He 


£>  ' 
O 

v.3 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


REPORT 


INDUSTRIAL  COMMISSION 


ON 


PRISON  LABOR 


PREPARED  IN   CONFORMITY  WITH  ACT  OF  CONGRESS  APPROVED  JUNE  18,  1898. 


VOLUME   III 

OF    THE    COMMISSION'S    REPORTS. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 
1900. 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  INDUSTRIAL  COMMISSION. 


JAMES  H.  KYLE,  Chairman. 

BOIES  PENEOSE.  ANDREW  L.  HARRIS. 

STEPHEN  R.  MALLORY.  ELLISON  A.  SMYTH. 

JOHN  W.  DANIEL.  JOHN  M.  FARQUHAR. 

JOHN  J.  GARDNER.  EUGENE  D.  CONGER. 

WILLIAM  LORIMER.  THOMAS  W.  PHILLIPS. 

L.  F.  LIVINGSTON.  CHARLES  J.  HARRIS. 

JOHN  C.  BELL.  M.  D.  RATCHFORD. 

THEOBALD  OTJEN.  JOHN  L.  KENNEDY. 

LEE  MANTLE.  ALBERT  CLARKE. 

WILLIAM  E.  SACKETT,  Secretary. 
2 


IO I 
A2> 
v.3 


UNITED  STATES  INDUSTRIAL  COMMISSION, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Api^il  25,  1900. 

SIR:  In  pursuance  of  the  act  of  Congress  approved  June  18,  1898 
I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  the  Report  of  the  Industria 
Commission  on  Prison  Labor. 
Respectfully, 

JAMES  H.  KYLE,  Chairman. 
The  SPEAKER  OF  THE  HOUSE  or  REPRESENTATIVES. 


296,317 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Review  and  recommendations 5 

Prefatory  note 17 

Chapter       I.  The  prison  labor  problem  discussed 19 

II.  Employment  of  prisoners  for  the  advantage  of  the  State  and 

private  individuals 24 

III.  Employment  of  prisoners  for  public  benefit  exclusively 44 

IV.  Financial  results  of  the  various  systems  of  employing  prison 

labor 60 

V.  Concerning  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  jails 74 

VI.  Employment  of  prisoners  during  the  years  1898  and  1899 78 

VII.  Suggestions  for  changes  in  systems  of  employment 121 

Appendix — Digest  of  prison  labor  laws  in  the  States  (and  Territories  ?) 141 

4 


INDUSTRIAL  COMMISSION. 


REPORT  (Xtf  PRISON  LABOR. 


To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  Fifty-sixth  Congress: 

The  Industrial  Commission  established  by  act  of  Congress  of  June 
18, 1898,  have  the  honor  to  submit  this  report  of  the  results  of  our  inves- 
tigations into  the  employment  of  the  inmates  of  the  penal,  reformatory, 
and  eleemosynary  institutions  of  the  different  States  and  Territories, 
and  the  competition  of  such  labor  with  free  labor. 

The  sections  of  the  law  creating  the  commission  under  which  we  have 
acted  in  the  preparation  of  this  report  are  as  follows : 

"SEC.  2.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  commission  to  investigate 
questions  pertaining  to  immigration,  to  labor,  to  agriculture,  and  man- 
ufacturing, and  to  business,  and  to  report  to  Congress  and  to  suggest 
such  legislation  as  it  may  deem  best  on  these  subjects. 

"SEC.  3.  That  it  shall  furnish  such  information  and  suggest  such 
laws  as  may  be  made  a  basis  for  uniform  legislation  by  the  various 
States  of  the  Union,  in  order  to  harmonize  conflicting  interests  and  to 
be  equitable  to  the  laborer,  the  employer,  the  producer,  and  the  con- 
sumer." 

The  investigation  of  the  employment  of  the  prison  population  has 
extended  into  all  of  the  States  and  Territories.  The  systems  under 
which  prisoners  are  employed  and  the  conditions  of  such  employment 
prevailing  in  each  State  are  presented  with  recommendations  for  such 
changes  as  are  considered  necessary  to  improve  the  conditions  and 
lessen  the  competition  with  free  labor. 

The  opinions  and  recommendations  of  the  various  committees,  com- 
missions, bureaus,  and  specialists  who  have  investigated  and  reported 
on  the  subject  of  prison  labor  have  been  consulted  and  their  conclusions 
in  regard  to  the  desirable  and  undesirable  features  of  the  different  sys- 
tems of  employment  are  presented. 

From  these  sources  the  commission  draws  certain  conclusions.  In 
addition,  testimony  taken  before  this  commission,  and  which  will  mainly 
appear  in  a  forthcoming  volume  on  Manufactures  and  General  Business, 
sustains  the  suggestions  for  legislation  herein  made. 

5 


6  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL   COMMISSION. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  industrial  phase  of  the  convict-labor  problem 
can  be  regulated  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  sections  of  the  country  only 
by  uniform  legislation  on  the  part  of  the  States.  The  question  is  one 
of  national  interest,  though  partly  beyond  national  jurisdiction. 

In  any  report  on  prison  labor  it  is  of  the  first  importance  to  outline 
a  plan  that  will,  if  embodied  in  the  law,  enable  the  prison  authorities 
so  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  institutions  that  the  grievances  now 
existing  and  complained  of  may  be  removed,  and  a  system  established 
which  will  make  the  prisons  punitive  and  reformatory,  and  as  nearly 
self-sustaining  as  may  be  without  materially  infringing  upon  the  rights 
of  free  labor  or  invested  capital. 

Various  schemes  have  been  tried  by  the  States,  working  independ- 
ently, to  lessen  the  competition  of  convict  labor  with  free  labor  and 
industry,  such  as  the  prohibition  of  the  employment  of  convicts ;  pro- 
hibition of  the  sale  of  convict-made  goods;  marking  of  convict-made 
goods;  substitution  of  industries  not  carried  on  in  the  State;  prohibit- 
ing the  sale  of  convict-made  goods  outside  the  State  where  manufac- 
tured; fixing  the  price  for  which  convict-made  goods  may  be  sold  in  the 
market;  reduction  of  hours  of  labor  in  prison;  the  exportation  of 
convict-made  goods;  diversification  of  industries  carried  on  in  prisons; 
payment  of  wages  to  convicts;  prohibition  of  any  contract  for  convict 
labor  at  lower  rates  per  day  than  the  average  paid  for  outside  labor  of 
the  same  kind;  employment  of  convicts  upon  public  improvements 
that  are  desirable,  but  of  such  a  character  that  they  would  not  have 
been  undertaken  with  the  use  of  free  labor. 

These  devices  have  been  adopted  without  regard  to  conditions  pre- 
vailing in  other  States,  or  in  the  hope  of  relieving  acute  conditions, 
rather  than  providing  a  permanent  remedy  for  an  evil  that  has  always 
been  a  feature  of  our  Government,  and  that  has  developed  and 
expanded  with  the  increase  in  population  and  wealth  of  the  country. 

That  the  competition  with  free  labor  exists  and  has  been  and  cun  be 
made  severe  by  the  use  of  methods  now  in  vogue  is  clearly  shown  by 
the  evidence  presented  herewith.  This  is  sufficient  reason  for  a  change 
in  those  methods  and  the  adoption,  so  far  as  practicable,  of  a  uniform 
system  whereby  the  employment  of  convicts  in  one  State  can  not  act 
detrimentally  on  the  industrial  interests  of  that  or  any  other  State. 

In  describing  the  various  systems  of  employing  convicts  the  com- 
mission has  presented  the  principal  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
each.  It  remains  to  be  determined  which  of  these  systems  tends  best 
to  the  reformation  of  the  prisoner  and  the  reduction  of  the  competi- 
tion of  his  labor  with  free  labor. 

Every  interest  of  society  and  consideration  of  discipline,  economy, 
reformation,  and  health  demands  that  prisoners  should  be  kept 
employed  at  productive  work.  Manufacturers,  wage-earners,  and  all 
who  have  given  the  subject  any  consideration  are  practically  unanimous 
in  this  conclusion. 


PRISON    LABOR.  7 

As  all  labor  competes  with  other  labor,  and  the  labor  that  an  indi- 
vidual may  do  for  himself,  or  that  the  State  may  do  for  its  own  use,  is 
in  a  sense  in  competition  with  other  labor,  the  competition  of  convict 
labor  with  free  labor  can  not  be  entirely  eradicated.  The  only  remedy 
is  to  be  found  in  the  reduction  of  that  competition  to  the  minimum,  and 
this  can  be  accomplished  best  by  a  scheme  which  considers  and  pro- 
vides for,  first,  the  punishment  and  reformation  of  the  criminal ;  second, 
the  diminution  of  competition  with  free  labor;  and  third,  the  main- 
tenance of  the  convicts.  The  weight  of  the  evidence  appears  to  be 
that  the  system  which  most  nearly  accomplishes  the  first  and  second 
of  these  conditions,  and  incidentally  the  third,  is  the  one  that  should 
be  adopted. 

The  objectionable  features  of  convict  labor  are  not  to  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  prisoners  are  employed,  but  to  the  methods  of  their  employ- 
ment and  the  fact  that  the  products  of  their  labor  are  sold  in  the  open 
market. 

In  response  to  the  general  demand  for  reformative  laws,  the  general 
tendency  of  prison  legislation  has  been  in  the  direction  of  reducing  the 
quantity  of  goods  manufactured  for  sale,  and  the  assumption  by  the 
State  of  the  complete  control  and  management  of  the  prison  population. 
This  is  shown  by  the  following  facts,  obtained  from  recent  reports  of 
the  Department  of  Labor : 

Considering  the  penitentiaries  and  prisons  of  the  country,  it  appears 
that  the  total  value  of  the  work  done  and  goods  produced  by  the  con- 
victs was  $24,271,078.39  in  1885  and  $19,042,472.33  in  1895,  a  decrease 
of  21.5  per  cent,  while  the  number  of  convicts  increased  from  41,877  in 
1885  to  54,244  in  1895.  In  1885  there  were  12  States  in  whicli  the  lease 
and  15  in  which  the  public-account  systems  of  employment  were  in  use, 
while  in  1895  there  were  but  7  States  in  which  the  lease  system  was 
used  and  27  in  which  the  public-account  system  was  in  use.  The  lease 
system  is  one  of  the  methods  of  employment  in  which  the  State  has  no 
control  over  the  quantity  or  disposition  of  the  products,  and  but  slight 
control  over  the  discipline  and  care  of  the  prisoner,  while  under  the 
public-account  system  the  State  has  full  control  of  both. 

The  lease,  contract,  and  piece-price  systems  of  employing  convicts 
are  the  three  methods  under  which  the  products  of  their  labor  are 
utilized  for  the  pecuniary  benefit  of  both  private  individuals  and  the 
State.  As  now  conducted  the  three  systems  have  many  features  in 
common.  The  contract  and  piece-price  systems  are  used  generally 
where  the  convicts  are  to  be  worked  at  or  immediately  adjoining  the 
prison,  and  the  State  has  control,  to  some  extent  at  least,  by  direct 
supervision  over  the  discipline,  hours  of  work,  and  the  character  and 
quantity  of  product.  The  lease  system  is  used,  as  a  rule,  where  the 
convicts  are  employed  away  from  the  prison  proper  or  in  detached 
buildings  styled  prisons,  but  under  the  complete  control  of  the  lessee, 
subject  to  the  conditions  of  the  lease  and  the  laws  and  rules  adopted 


8  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

for  the  care  of  the  prisoners.  The  objections  to  the  lease  system  are 
hereinafter  presented,  and  they  appear  to  the  commission  to  be  suf- 
ficient to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  it  should  not  be  tolerated  in 
any  civilized  community.  In  1898  it  was  in  use  in  9  States,  but  in 
almost  every  case  the  objectionable  features  of  the  system  had  been 
eradicated,  as  far  as  possible,  by  stringent  laws,  rules,  and  inspections, 
and  in  all  but  2  of  the  States,  Florida  and  Louisiana,  the  convicts  were 
also  worked  under  other  systems  in  connection  with  the  lease  system. 
In  the  States  where  the  system  is  in  vogue  the  authorities  are  prac- 
tically unanimous  in  its  condemnation,  and  excuse  its  use  by  stating 
that  it  appears  to  be  the  best  that  can  be  adopted  under  the  present 
conditions. 

The  contract,  piece-price,  and  public-account  systems  are  all  objec- 
tionable, from  an  industrial  standpoint,  chiefly  because  under  them  the 
products  of  convict  labor  are  sold  in  the  open  market  and  enter  into 
competition  with  products  of  free  labor. 

By  reference  to  the  desirable  and  undesirable  features  presented  for 
each  system,  and  also  to  the  synopsis  showing  the  present  condition  of 
employment  and  the  recommendations  of  those  in  charge  of  convict 
labor  in  the  different  States,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  conditions  that  are 
beneficial  to  the  prisoner  and  the  interests  of  free  labor  do  not  depend 
entirely  on  the  system  of  employment,  but  largely  on  the  administra- 
tion of  the  system  j  also  that  certain  systems  of  employment  tend  more 
than  others  to  assist  in  the  development  of  the  desirable  features  of 
prison  life,  and  that  with  this  end  in  view  the  contract  and  piece  price 
systems  were  developed  from  the  lease  system.  The  adoption  of  the 
public-account  system  followed  naturally  from  the  use  of  the  contract 
and  piece-price  methods. 

During  the  year  1898  the  contract  system  was  used  in  24  States,  the 
piece-price  system  in  10  States,  and  the  public-account  system  in  30 
States.  Fifteen  of  the  States  using  the  contract  system  also  used  the 
public-account  system,  and  all  but  2  of  the  States  using  the  piece- price 
system  also  used  the  public  account  system.  Therefore,  of  the  various 
schemes  devised  for  the  employment  of  convicts  with  the  intention  ot 
deriving  revenue  from  such  work  the  public-account  system  is  in  the 
most  general  use. 

The  growth  of  the  public-account  system  and  decrease  in  the  con- 
tract and  other  systems  is  indicated  by  the  following  information  taken 
from  the  bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor.  This  statement  lias 
reference  only  to  the  penitentiaries  and  prisons.  Since  its  preparation 
there  have  been  material  changes  in  some  of  the  States;  for  instance,  in 
New  York,  where  goods  to  the  value  of  $1,999,769.02  were  produced 
under  the  piece-price  system  in  1895,  the  use  of  that  system  has  been 
discontinued  and  the  convicts  are  now  engaged,  exclusively,  in  the 
manufacture  of  goods  for  the  use  of  the  State  and  its  institutions. 


PRISON    LABOR.  9 

Summary  of  value  of  goods  produced  or  workdone  by  systems  of  work,  1885  and  1895 


Systems  of  work. 

Value. 

1885. 

1895.  ' 

Public-account  system  .  

$2,063,892.18 
17,071,265.69 
1,484,230.52 
3,651,690.00 

$4,  888,  563.  36 
8,190,799.70 
3,  795,  483.  24 
2,167,626.03 

Contract  system  

Piece-price  system 

Lease  system    ..        .. 

Total   

24,271,078.39 

19,042,472.33 

By  this  brief  table  one  can  note  the  general  changes  in  values.  Under 
the  public  account  system  there  were  produced  in  the  United  States  in 
1885  goods  to  the  value  of  $2,063,892.18,  but  under  this  system  in  1895 
there  were  produced  goods  to  the  value  of  $4,888,563.36,  being  an  in- 
crease of  more  than  100  per  cent.  This  system  has  become  more  popular 
in  recent  years,  hence  the  increase.  Looking  at  the  next  line  we  find 
that  under  the  contract  system  there  has  been  a  decrease  of  about  50 
per  cent,  the  decrease  being  from  $17,071,265.69  to  $8,190,799.70.  This 
system  (the  contract)  has  become  offensive  during  the  past  few  years, 
and  legislatures  have  sought  to  change  their  plans  from  that  either  to  the 
public-account  system  or  to  the  piece-price  system;  under  the  latter  the 
value  of  goods  has  increased  from  $1,484,230.52  in  1885  to  $3,795,483.24 
in  1895,  an  increase  of  over  150  per  cent.  Under  the  lease  system  the 
values  show  the  effect  of  agitation  in  the  Southern  States,  where  that 
system  more  generally  prevailed  in  1885,  for  there  the  value  of  goods 
produced  or  work  done  decreased  from  $3,651,690  to  $2,167,626.03  in 
1895,  a  decrease  of  40.6  per  cent.  But  the  totals  show  a  great  change, 
the  decrease  being  from  $24,271,078.39  in  1885  to  $19,042,472.33  in  1895, 
a  decrease  of  21.5  per  cent. 

The  contract  system  has  been  adopted  in  preference  to  the  lease  sys- 
tem, because  under  it  the  State  has  a  better  supervision  and  control  of 
the  prisoner,  and  the  obnoxious  theory  that  he  is  worked  at  manual 
labor,  not  for  his  punishment  and  reformation,  but  to  produce  revenue 
for  the  State,  is  to  some  extent  removed. 

The  piece-price  system  was  devised,  not  only  to  embrace  the  desirable 
features  of  the  contract  system,  but  in  order  that  the  State  might  have 
control  of  the  quantity  of  the  work  performed  by  the  convicts  and 
incidentally  the  quantity  to  be  thrown  upon  the  open  market  for  sale. 

The  popularity  of  the  public-account  system  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
under  it  the  prison  is  better  adapted  to  accomplishing  the  end  for  which 
it  was  designed,  i.  e.,  the  punishment  and  reformation  of  the  criminal, 
aud  also  because  the  State  has  complete  control  of  the  products  of  the 
labor  of  the  criminal. 

While  the  advocates  of  the  contract  and  piece  price  systems  main- 
tain that  under  them  as  high  a  degree  of  reformatory  and  disciplinary 
potency  can  be  reached  as  under  the  public-account  system,  the  true 
reason  why  those  systems  are  adopted  is  that  under  them  the  labor 
of  the  convicts  has  resulted  in  giving  a  larger  revenue  to  the  State. 


10  UNITED   STATES   INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

The  amount  of  revenue  that  could  be  derived  has  been  the  con- 
trolling factor  in  the  adoption  of  one  of  these  systems,  rather  tnan 
the  assistance  that  the  system  would  lend  to  prison  discipline  and 
removal  of  the  competition  with  free  labor. 

The  trend  of  the  legislation  in  the  different  States,  also  the  present 
methods  under  which  convicts  are  employed  and  the  recommendations 
of  those  charged  with  the  responsibility  for  the  conduct  of  such  employ- 
ment, together  with  the  recommendations  of  the  numerous  commis- 
sions, committees,  bureaus,  penologists  and  others,  all  point  to  the  fact 
that  the  true  theory  of  prison  life  is  that  the  criminal  should,  in  every 
respect,  be  under  the  absolute  control  of  the  State. 

The  adoption  of  the  public-account  system  is  the  first  step  in  the 
direction  of  the  State  having  complete  control  of  the  prisoner  and  his 
labor.  The  reasons  why  the  system  has  not  been  put  in  general  use, 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  are  that  under  it  the  products  of  convict 
labor  are  sold  in  the  open  market  in  competition  with  the  products  of 
free  labor,  and  its  adoption  has  almost  invariably  resulted  in  financial 
loss. 

In  order  to  obviate  these  objections  laws  have  been  adopted  provid- 
ing that  the  work  of  the  prisoners  should  first  be  directed  to  the  pro- 
duction of  articles  and  supplies  for  their  own  support,  and  the  care  and 
maintenance  of  the  buildings  in  which  they  are  confined.  Practically 
all  of  the  States  now  have  laws  to  this  effect,  and  in  many  of  them  the 
prisoners  are  also  engaged  in  manufacturing  supplies  or  producing 
agricultural  products  for  the  use  of  other  institutions. 

The  two  great  sources  of  expense  of  prisons  are  the  support  of  the 
prisoners  and  the  maintenance  of  their  imprisonment.  The  experience 
of  prison  industry  has  been,  that  when  employed  in  productive  work 
the  convicts  earn  enough  to  support  themselves,  but,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, not  enough  to  pay  the  cost  of  imprisonment.  The  employment 
of  convicts  in  producing  articles  for  their  own  support,  to  that  extent, 
relieves  the  State  from  the  necessity  of  entering  the  open  market  either 
as  a  seller  or  producer  of  goods  to  be  used  in  connection  with  its  con- 
vict system. 

After  a  careful  consideration  of  the  subject  in  all  of  its  phases  as  pre- 
sented in  numerous  reports,  of  the  testimony  and  recommendations  that 
have  been  submitted,  of  the  present  systems  of  employing  convicts,  and 
the  conditions  that  have  culminated  in  the  adoption  of  those  systems, 
the  commission  feels  warranted  in  arriving  at  the  following  conclu- 
sions : 

First.  That  provision  should  be  made  in  the  laws  of  each  State  for 
the  employment  of  all  prisoners  in  productive  labor. 

Second.  The  State  should  have  absolute  control  of  the  care,  punish- 
ment, reformation,  and  employment  of  the  prisoners,  as  well  as  the 
disposition  of  the  products  of  their  industry. 

Third.  The  employment  of  prisoners  in  productive  labor  does,  of 
necessity,  result  in  competition  of  some  character  with  free  labor  and 
industry. 


PRISON    LABOR.  11 

Fourth.  The  employment  of  prisoners  with  the  intention  of  producing 
revenue,  either  for  the  State  exclusively,  or  for  private  individuals  or 
corporations  and  the  State  jointly,  tends  to  the  greatest  competition 
with  free  labor. 

Fifth.  That  a  system  of  employing  prisoners  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
ducing revenue  has  a  tendency  to  detract  from  the  punitive,  reform- 
atory and  disciplinary  features  of  the  prisons. 

Sixth.  The  employment  of  prisoners  in  the  production  of  supplies 
for  the  maintenance  of  State,  county,  and  municipal  institutions  and 
the  support  of  the  inmates  of  the  same,  or  in  work  on  the  public  build- 
ings or  roads,  tends  to  the  least  direct  competition  with  free  labor. 

Seventh.  Of  the  various  systems  for  employ  ing  convicts,  those  under 
which  private  individuals  or  corporations  are  interested  have  resulted 
in  procuring  the  greatest  revenue  to  the  State. 

Eighth.  No  system  of  employing  convicts,  however  wise  in  concep- 
tion and  however  carefully  guarded,  can  be  entirely  free  from  the  dan- 
ger of  abuses  in  management. 

Ninth.  The  most  desirable  system  for  employing  convicts  is  one 
which  provides,  primarily,  for  the  punishment  and  reformation  of  the 
prisoner  and  the  least  competition  with  free  labor,  and,  secondarily, 
for  the  revenue  of  the  State. 

Tenth.  In  order  to  harmonize  the  antagonistic  interests  of  the  differ- 
ent States  it  is  essential  that  the  industrial  operations  of  all  the  penal, 
reformatory,  and  eleemosynary  institutions  in  each  should  be  under 
the  supervision  of  a  central  office. 

Eleventh.  The  adoption  of  laws  embracing  the  above  principles  has 
been  retarded  by  the  prevailing  industrial,  economic,  social,  and  climatic 
conditions  in  many  of  the  States.  These  conditions  are  so  diversified, 
and  the  industrial,  moral,  and  educational  possibilities  of  the  prison  pop- 
ulation differ  so  widely  in  the  several  States  that  the  commission  is  of 
the  opinion  that  it  is  impracticable  for  all  of  them  to  adopt  a  uniform 
law  for  the  employment  of  prisoners,  that  would  be  identical  in  all  of 
its  provisions.  The  necessity  for  uniform  legislation  is  however  fully 
realized ;  it  is  the  only  permanent  remedy  for  the  abuses  that  exist  under 
the  systems  now  prevailing,  and  for  the  abatement  of  competition  with 
free  labor. 

The  commission  accordingly  submits  the  following  general  provisions 
of  law  mainly  from  the  New  York  statute,  which  are  in  harmony  with 
the  above  conclusions,  and  recommends  that  all,  or  such  of  them  as 
may  be  possible,  shall  be  embodied  in  the  laws  of  the  different  States, 
with  such  additional  provisions  as  to  management  as  may  be  necessary 
to  meet  the  prevailing  social  conditions : 

PROPOSED   PROVISIONS  OF   LAWS   REGULATING   EMPLOYMENT   OF  PRISONERS. 

Within  ten  days  after  the  passage  of  this  act  the  governor  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  senate,  shall  appoint  four  persons  who  shall  be  com- 
missioners for  the  purpose  of  this  act,  to  be  called  commissioners  of  prisons,  who 
shall  constitute  the  State  commission  of  prisons;  one  of  the  persons  so  appointed 


12  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

shall  hold  his  office  for  one  year,  one  for  two  years,  one  for  three  years,  one  for 
four  years,  as  indicated  by  the  governor  on  making  the  nominations,  and  all  nom- 
inations thereafter,  except  to  fill  vacancies,  shall  be  made  for  four  years;  said 
commission  shall  have  power  to  make  and  use  an  official  seal  and  alter  the  same 
at  pleasure. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  commission  to  visit  and  inspect  all  institutions  used 
for  the  detention  of  sane  adults  charged  with  or  convicted  of  crime,  or  detained 
as  witnesses  or  debtors;  to  aid  in  securing  the  just,  humane,  and  economic  admin- 
istration of  all  said  institutions  subject  to  its  inspection;  to  aid  in  securing  the 
erection  of  suitable  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  inmates  of  such  insti- 
tutions, and  to  approve  or  reject  plans  for  their  construction  or  improvement;  to 
investigate  the  management  of  all  institutions  made  siibject  to  the  investigation 
of  said  commission  and  the  conduct  and  efficiency  of  the  officers  or  persons 
charged  with  their  management;  to  secure  the  best  sanitary  conditions  of  the 
buildings  and  grounds  of  all  such  institutions,  and  to  protect  and  preserve  the 
health  of  the  inmates;  to  collect  statistical  information  in  respect  to  the  property, 
receipts,  and  expenditures  of  said  institution,  the  number  and  condition  of  the 
inmates  thereof,  and  to  ascertain  and  recommend  such  system  of  employing  said 
inmates  as  may,  in  the  opinion  of  said  commission,  be  for  the  best  interest  of  the 
public. 

The  proper  authorities  shall  provide  for  and  assign  to  such  commission  suitably 
furnished  rooms  for  its  office  and  its  place  of  meeting  at  the  State  capital,  where 
it  shall  hold  its  meetings  as  often  as  once  in  three  months. 

The  said  commission  shall  annually  elect  one  of  its  members  as  the  president  of 
the  commission,  and  shall  also  annually  elect  a  secretary,  who  shall  keep  a  record 
of  all  of  its  proceedings,  and  perform  such  duties  as  may  be  required  of  him  by  the 

commission  and  by  law,  and  he  shall  receive  a  salary  of  $ per  annum ;  and 

said  commission  may  also  appoint  as  employees  and  assistants  of  said  commission, 
and  of  the  commissioners,  in  the  performance  of  their  official  duties,  a  clerk  at 

an  annual  salary  of  $ ,  a  general  office  assistant,  at  an  annual  salary  of  $ , 

and  remove  each  and  appoint  a  successor  at  any  time ;  and  the  said  commission  is 
authorized  to  make  rules  and  regulations  for  its  meetings  and  the  transaction  of 
its  business  and  also  as  to  the  manner  in  which  reports  to  it  shall  be  made  and 
all  matters  shall  be  presented  before  it. 

Said  commission  or  any  of  said  commissioners,  or  its  secretary,  if  authorized 
by  it,  is  authorized  to  visit  and  inspect  any  of  said  institutions  subject  to  its 
visitations,  and  may  take  and  hear  testimony  or  proofs  in  relation  to  any  matter 
before  it  or  him  upon  any  visit,  inspection,  or  examination  made  by  such  com- 
mission or  member  thereof,  and  the  said  commission,  or  any  members  thereof, 
shall  have  full  access  to  persons,  grounds,  buildings,  books  and  papers  relating 
thereto,  and  may  require  from  the  officers  and  persons  in  charge  any  information 
it  or  he  may  deem  necessary  in  the  discharge  of  its  or  his  duties.  Said  commis- 
sion may  prepare  regulations  according  to  which,  and  provide  blanks  and  forms 
upon  which,  such  information  shall  be  furnished  in  a  clear,  uniform  and  prompt 
manner  for  the  use  of  said  commission.  Said  commission  shall  make  an  annual 
report  to  the  legislature,  or  to  the  governor  when  the  legislature  is  not  in  session, 
in  which  it  shall  give  the  results  of  its  work  and  such  information  as  it  deems 
proper  relating  to  said  institutions,  and  its  opinions  and  conclusions  relating  to 
the  same. 

The  warden  of  every  prison,  the  superintendent  or  manager  of  every  peniten- 
tiary, and  keeper  of  every  jail  or  other  institution  used  for  the  detention  of  sane 
adults  charged  with  or  convicted  of  crime  or  detained  as  witnesses  or  debtors 
shall  on  or  before  the  1st  day  of  November  in  each  and  every  year,  report  to  the 
State  commission  of  prisons  the  number  of  male  and  female  persons  charged  with 
crime  and  awaiting  trial,  the  number  convicted  of  crime,  the  number  detained  HS 
witnesses,  and  as  debtors,  in  his  custody  on  the  1st  day  of  October  last  past, 


PRISON   LABOR.  13 

together  with  a  statistical  exhibit  of  the  number  of  admissions,  discharges,  and 
deaths  which  have  occurred  within  the  past  year,  the  nature  of  the  charge,  the 
period  of  detention  or  sentence,  and  such  other  facts  and  information  as  the 
commission  may  require. 

Any  officer,  superintendent,  or  employee  of  any  of  said  penal  institutions  who 
shall  refuse  to  admit  said  commission  or  any  of  said  commissioners  or  its  secre- 
tary or  other  authorized  agent  for  the  purpose  of  visitation  or  inspection,  or  shall 
refuse  or  neglect  to  furnish  the  information  required  by  said  commission  or  any 
member  thereof,  or  its  secretary,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  subject 
to  a  fine  of  $100  for  each  such  refusal  or  neglect.  The  rights  and  powers  hereby 
conferred  may  be  enforced  by  an  order  of  the  supreme  court.  In  making  investi- 
gations as  herein  empowered  said  commission  or  any  member  thereof  is  hereby 
empowered  to  issue  compulsory  process  for  the  attendance  of  witnesses  and  the 
production  of  papers,  to  administer  oaths,  and  to  examine  persons  under  oath 
and  to  exercise  the  same  powers  as  belong  to  referees  appointed  by  the  court. 

The  said  commission  shall  have  the  further  duty  and  authority  to  require  the 
proper  officials  of  the  State  and  the  political  divisions  thereof,  and  of  all  public 
institutions  of  the  State,  and  political  divisions  thereof,  supported  wholly  or  in 
part  by  the  State  or  any  political  division  thereof,  to  furnish  to  said  commission, 
anntially,  estimates  for  each  ensuing  year  of  the  amount  of  labor  to  be  required 
by  each,  and  of  the  articles  which  may  be  manufactured  in  penal  institutions, 
required  to  be  purchased  for  the  use  of  the  State  or  the  political  divisions  or  said 
institutions  in  their  charge  or  under  their  management. 

All  persons  sentenced  to  the  prisons,  reformatories,  penitentiaries,  or  jails  in 
the  State  shall  be  employed  for  the  State,  or  a  political  division  thereof,  or  in  pro- 
ductive industries  for  the  benefit  of  the  State,  or  the  political  divisions  thereof, 
or  for  the  use  of  public  institutions  owned  or  managed  and  controlled  by  the  State, 
or  the  political  divisions  thereof,  which  shall  be  under  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  distribution  and  diversification  thereof,  to  be  established  by  the  State  com- 
mission of  prisons. 

The  labor  of  the  prisoners  in  the  institutions  known  as  State  penitentiaries, 
prisons,  or  reformatories,  after  the  necessary  labor  for  and  manufacture  of  all 
needed  supplies  for  said  institutions,  shall  be  primarily  devoted  to  the  State 
and  the  construction  and  care  of  the  public  buildings,  roads,  and  institutions 
thereof,  and  the  manufacture  of  supplies  for  the  State  and  public  institutions 
thereof,  and  secondly  to  the  public  divisions  of  the  State,  and  public  institu- 
tions thereof;  and  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  in  the  institutions  known  as  county 
jails,  prisons,  workhouses,  or  reformatories,  after  the  necessary  labor  for  and 
manufacture  of  all  needed  supplies  for  the  same,  shall  be  primarily  devoted  to  the 
counties,  respectively,  in  which  said  institutions  are  located,  and  the  towns,  cities 
and  villages  therein,  and  to  the  construction  and  care  of  the  public  buildings, 
roads,  and  institutions  thereof,  and  the  manufacture  of  supplies  for  the  public 
institutions  of  the  counties,  or  the  political  divisions  thereof,  and  secondly  to  the 
State  and  public  institutions  thereof. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  State  commission  of  prisons  to  distribute  among  the 
penal  and  reformatory  institutions  under  its  jurisdiction  the  labor  and  industries 
assigned  by  the  commission  to  said  institutions,  due  regard  being  had  to  the 
location  and  convenience  of  the  institutions  to  the  other  institutions  to  be  sup- 
plied. The  commission  of  prisons  shall  annually  cause  to  be  procured  and 
transmitted  to  the  legislature,  with  its  annual  report,  a  statement  showing  in 
detail  the  amount  and  quantity  of  each  of  the  various  articles  manufactured  in 
the  several  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  under  its  control  and  the  labor 
performed  by  the  prisoners  therein,  and  of  the  disposition  thereof. 

The  officers  of  the  State  piisons,  reformatories  and  penitentiaries,  county  jails, 
and  other  penal  and  reformatory  institutions,  respectively,  are  authorized  and 
directed  to  cause  to  be  manufactured  by  the  prisoners  in  the  institutions  such 


14  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

articles  as  are  needed  and  used  therein,  and  also  such  as  are  required  by  the 
State  or  political  divisions  thereof,  and  in  the  buildings,  offices  and  public  insti- 
tutions owned  or  managed  and  controlled  by  the  State,  including  articles  and 
materials  to  be  xised  in  the  erection  of  the  buildings  and  construction  of  roads. 

All  such  articles  manufactured  in  the  institutions  not  required  for  use  therein 
maybe  furnished  to  the  State,  or  to  any  political  divisions  thereof,  or  for  or  to  any 
public  institution  owned  or  managed  and  controlled  by  the  State,  or  any  political 
division  thereof,  at  and  for  such  prices  as  shall  be  fixed  and  determined  as  herein- 
after provided,  upon  the  requisitions  of  the  proper  officials,  trustees  or  managers 
thereof.  No  article  so  manufactured  shall  be  purchased  from  any  other  source 
for  the  State  or  public  institutions  of  the  State,  or  the  political  divisions  thereof, 
unless  said  State  commission  of  prisons  shall  certify  that  the  same  can  not  be  fur- 
nished upon  such  requisition,  and  no  claim  therefor  shall  be  audited  or  paid 
without  such  certificate. 

On  or  before  October  1  in  each  year  the  proper  officials  of  the  State,  and  the 
political  divisions  thereof,  and  of  the  institutions  of  the  State,  or  political  divisions 
thereof,  shall  report  to  the  said  commission  of  prisons  estimates  for  the  ensuing 
year  of  the  amount  of  supplies  of  different  kinds  required  to  be  purchased  by 
them  that  can  be  furnished  by  the  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  of  the  State 
and  the  political  divisions  thereof.  The  said  commission  is  authorized  to  make 
regulations  for  said  reports,  to  provide  for  the  manner  in  which  requisitions  shall 
be  made  for  supplies,  and  to  provide  for  the  proper  diversification  of  the  industries 
in  said  institutions. 

The  State  commission  of  prisons  shall  fix  and  determine  the  prices  at  which 
all  labor  performed,  and  all  articles  manufactured  and  furnished  to  the  State,  or 
the  political  divisions  thereof,  or  the  public  institutions  thereof,  shall  be  furnished, 
which  prices  shall  be  uniform  to  all.  The  prices  shall  be  as  near  the  usual  mar- 
ket price  for  such  labor  and  supplies  as  possible.  The  State  commission  of  prisons 
shall  devise  and  furnish  to  all  such  institutions  a  proper  form  for  such  requisi- 
tions and  the  comptroller  shall  devise  and  furnish  a  proper  system  of  accounts  to 
be  kept  by  all  such  institutions. 

The  State  commission  of  prisons  shall  not,  nor  shall  any  other  authority  what- 
soever, make  any  contract  by  which  the  labor  or  time  of  any  prisoner  in  any  State 
prison,  reformatory,  penitentiary,  or  jail  in  this  State,  or  the  product  or  profit  of 
his  work,  shall  be  contracted,  let,  farmed  out,  given,  or  sold  to  any  person,  firm, 
association,  or  corporation;  except  that  the  prisoners  in  said  penal  or  reformatory 
institutions  may  work  for  and  the  products  of  their  labor  may  be  disposed  of  to 
the  State  or  any  political  divisions  thereof,  or  for  or  to  any  public  institution 
owned  or  managed  and  controlled  by  the  State  or  any  political  division  thereof. 

The  superintendents,  managers,  and  officials  of  all  penal  and  reformatory  insti- 
tutions in  the  State  shall,  so  far  as  practicable,  cause  all  the  prisoners  in  said  insti- 
tutions who  are  physically  capable  thereof  to  be  employed  at  hard  labor  for  not 
to  exceed  eight  hours  of  each  day,  other  than  Sundays  and  public  holidays,  but 
such  hard  labor  shall  be  either  for  the  purpose  of  production  of  supplies  for  said 
institutions  or  for  the  State,  or  any  political  division  thereof,  or  for  any  public 
institution  owned  or  managed  and  controlled  by  the  State,  or  any  political  division 
thereof;  or  for  the  purpose  of  industrial  training  and  instruction,  or  partly  for  one, 
and  partly  for  the  other  of  such  purposes. 

No  appointment  shall  be  made  in  any  of  the  penal,  reformatory,  or  eleemosy- 
nary institutions  of  this  State  on  the  grounds  of  political  partisanship;  but  hon- 
esty, capacity,  and  adaptation  shall  constitute  the  rule  for  appointment,  and  any 
violation  of  this  rule  shall  be  sufficient  cause  for  the  removal  from  office  of  the 
officer  committing  such  violation. 

The  said  State  commission  of  prisons  shall  have  the  further  duty  and  authority 
to  direct  the  employment  of  such  of  the  prisoners  in  the  State  and  county  penal 
and  reformatory  institutions,  as  they  may  deem  desirable,  in  agricultural  pursuits 


PRISON    LABOR.  15 

on  the  State  or  county  lands,  and  the  products  of  such  labor  shall  be  devoted  to 
the  support  of  the  inmates  of  the  public  institutions  of  the  State  and  of  the  coun- 
ties or  the  political  divisions  thereof. 

No  machine,  except  machines  operated  by  hand  or  foot  power,  shall  be  used  in 
any  of  the  said  institutions  in  the  manufacture  of  any  goods,  wares,  articles  or 
things  that  are  manufactured  elsewhere  in  the  State. 

The  commission  are  of  opinion  that  the  nearest  to  a  complete  remedy 
for  the  evils  of  convict  labor  competition  with  the  business  and  labor 
of  the  country  would  be  the  interdiction  of  interstate  commerce  in  all 
goods,  minerals,  or  materials  in  whole  or  in  part  the  product  of  convict 
labor,  supplemented  by  State  legislation  on  the  lines  above  indicated. 
But  in  the  absence  of  such  legislation  by  all  the  States,  and  in  order 
to  protect  such  States  as  do  adopt  such  legistion  from  the  convict 
labor  competition  of  others,  the  most  practical  step  would  be  an  act 
of  Congress  by  which  goods,  minerals,  or  materials  in  whole  or  in  part 
the  product  of  convict  labor,  upon  their  arrival  in  any  State,  would 
become  fully  subject  to  its  laws. 

For,  if  interstate  trade  in  convict-made  goods  be  not  absolutely  pro- 
hibited, it  would  be  of  little  use  to  recommend  the  foregoing  law  for 
enactment  by  the  States  were  it  not  supplemented  by  national  legisla- 
tion which  should,  if  possible,  protect  the  States  adopting  such 
improved  legislation  from  other  States  which  may  still  proceed  under 
the  old  system.  There  can  be  no  reason,  constitutional  or  economic, 
why  the  markets  of  one  State,  which  has  adopted  the  noneompeti- 
tive  theory  of  convict  labor,  should  be  swamped  by  the  product  of  the 
competitive  convict  labor  of  neighboring  States.  In  fact,  a  condition 
of  this  sort  would  penalize  a  State  for  adopting  such  improved  legis- 
lation, as  its  markets  would  thereby  become  more  completely  the  prey 
of  the  competitive  convict  labor  of  other  States  which  might  choose 
to  profit  by  the  situation ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  those  States  which 
still  retain  the  money-making  theory  of  conducting  their  convict  labor 
should  not  complain  at  the  competition  of  the  other  States  retaining 
the  same  policy.  There  should,  at  the  least,  be  national  legislation 
to  protect  the  States  from  the  competition  of  convict  made  goods,  so 
far  as  they  protect  their  own  markets  against  their  own  convict-labor 
competition,  even  if  not  interfering  with  interstate  trade  in  such  goods 
as  to  such  States  as  themselves  seek  to  profit  by  it. 

The  commission  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  both  constitutional  and 
possible  to  enact  such  a  law,  and  that  a  simple  statute  which  shall 
merely  remove  the  Federal  control  of  interstate  trade  in  convict-made 
goods  so  that  they  become  subject,  wherever  found,  to  the  general  regu- 
lation of  the  State  laws,  would  meet  the  case.  A  precedent  can  be 
found  in  the  so-called  Wilson  Act  (U.  S.  1890,  c.  728),  applying  to  intox- 
icating liquors.  We  have  already  a  statute  forbidding  the  importation 
of  convict-made  goods  from  foreign  countries  (U.  S.  1890.  c.  1244,  51). 
Nothing  remains  but  to  protect  the  States,  so  far  as  they  are  fairly 
entitled  to  such  protection  as  against  each  other.  The  commission 
would  therefore  recommend  the  passage  by  Congress  of  an  act  similar 


16  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

to  that  of  August  8, 1890  (26  Stat.  L.,  313,  c.  728),  substituting  the  words 
"  goods,  minerals,  or  materials  wholly  or  in  part  the  product  of  convict 
labor,"  for  the  words  "  all  fermented,  distilled,  or  other  intoxicating 
liquors  or  liquids,"  etc. 

It  seems  probable  that  Congress  would  have  power  to  pass  such  a 
statute  as  to  any  article  of  interstate  commerce  whatever,  at  its  own 
discretion ;  certainly  it  has  the  power  when  the  traffic  in  the  commodities 
concerned  obviously  affects  the  health,  safety,  or  general  welfare  of  the 
people,  as  is  the  case  in  both  intoxicating  liquors  and  convict-made 
goods. 

It  would  then  be  possible  for  the  States  to  enact  laws  regulating  or 
even  prohibiting  the  sale  of  all  convict-made  goods,  requiring  bonds, 
licenses,  labels,  or  other  safeguards,  which  would  apply  also  to  the 
convict- made  goods  of  other  States.  For  an  example  of  such  a  law,  see 
New  York  act  of  1897  (general  labor  law),  art.  4;  also  Penal  Code,  section 
384b.  Summaries  of  similar  laws  in  Ohio  (which  were  held  unconstitu- 
tional in  the  absence  of  the  Federal  legislation  above  recommended), 
Indiana,  Kentucky,  and  other  States  will  be  found  in  succeeding  pages. 

JAMES  H.  KYLE,  Chairman. 
BOIES  PENROSE, 
JOHN  J.  GARDNER, 
WILLIAM  LORIMER, 
JOHN  C.  BELL, 
THEOBALD  OTJEN, 
LEE  MANTLE, 
ANDREW  L.  HARRIS, 
*  ELLISON  A.  SMYTH, 
JOHN  M.  FARQUHAR, 
EUGENE  D.  CONGER, 
THOMAS  W.  PHILLIPS, 
M.  D.  RATCHFORD, 
JOHN  L.  KENNEDY, 
ALBERT  CLARKE, 

Commissioners. 

*  For  reasons  fully  stated  in  conclusion  11  in  the  report  I  do  not  con- 
cur in  the  recommendation  fixing  8  hours  for  the  day's  work.  I  agree 
with  Mr.  C.  J.  Harris  also  in  his  exception  to  that  portion  of  the  report 
which  recommends  the  interdiction  of  prison -made  goods. 

ELLISON  A.  SMYTH,  Commissioner. 


Believing  that  the  productive  employment  of  convict  labor  is  benefi- 
cial to  the  convict,  to  the  wage- earner,  and  to  the  taxpayer,  also  that 
the  sale  of  their  products  under  ordinary  business  principles  is  not 
detrimental  to  the  "  life,  health,  or  well-being  of  the  community,"  I 
therefore  dissent  from  the  recommendation  for  the  interdiction  of  inter- 
state commerce  in  convict-made  goods.  I  do  not  recommend  a  State 
law  which  allows  only  the  use  of  hand  or  foot  power  machines  and  con- 
fines the  sale  of  their  goods  to  State  and  county  alone. 

C.  J.  HARRIS,  Commissioner. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


In  conducting  this  investigation  the  commission  has  confined  its  efforts  to  a 
presentation  of  the  industrial  and  economic  phase  of  the  subject,  and  has  not  con- 
sidered the  different  methods  of  conducting  the  institution,  such  as  the  congre- 
gate or  the  separate  confinement  systems,  physical  and  hygienic  relations,  dis- 
cipline and  instruction,  paroling  the  prisoners  on  good  behavior,  or  the  indefinite 
sentence  plan.  While  these  features  are  essential  to  a  comprehensive  discussion 
of  the  subject  they  do  not  bear  directly  upon  the  primary  object  for  which  the 
commission  was  appointed. 

The  discussion  that  follows  has  been  taken  largely  from  official  reports,  or  is 
based  upon  the  opinions  of  those  who  are  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  details  of 
this  feature  of  our  industrial  situation. 

The  information  is  presented  in  several  chapters  as  follows: 

A  statement  of  the  convict-labor  problem  and  a  general  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject is  given  in  chapter  1. 

A  description  of  the  different  systems  of  employing  prisoners  whereby  the 
profits  of  their  labor  is  shared  by  the  State  with  private  individuals,  and  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  such  systems  is  given  in  Chapter  2. 

The  systems  of  employing  prisoners  for  the  public  benefit  exclusively  are 
described,  and  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each  are  given  in  Chapter  3. 

The  financial  results  of  the  different  systems  of  employing  prisoners  are  pre- 
sented in  Chapter  4. 

The  systems  of  employment  and  conditions  existing  in  the  county  jails  are 
described  in  Chapter  5. 

A  detailed  statement  of  the  industries  in  which  prisoners  are  employed  in  each 
State,  and  the  general  results  of  such  employment,  are  given  in  Chapter  6. 

Suggestions  for  changes  in  the  present  system  of  employing  prisoners  are  given 
in  Chapter  7. 

The  commission  desires  to  express  its  appreciation  of  the  services  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liam M.  Steuart,  who  has  collected  and  codified  the  information  presented  in  this 
report. 

The  appendix  consists  of  a  digest  of  the  convict-labor  laws  in  force  in  the  United 
States  in  1898.  Compiled  under  direction  of  the  Commission  by  Victor  H. 
Olmsted. 

250A— VOL  III 2  17 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  CONVICT-LABOR  PROBLEM. 

One  feature  of  the  present  industrial  condition  of  the  country  that  demands  the 
consideration  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  is  the  employment  of  the  inmates  of 
the  various  penal,  reformatory  and  eleemosynary  institutions  of  the  different 
States  and  Territories.  The  competition  of  convict  labor  with  free  labor  and 
industry  has  been  a  subject  of  more  or  less  active  discussion  for  the  past  50  years 
and  has  caused  a  vast  amount  of  legislation.  Each  State  has  dealt  with  it  in  the 
way  considered  best  adapted  to  meet  the  conditions  existing  within  its  own  bor- 
ders, without  regard  to  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  citizens  of  adjoining  States. 
A  sample  of  such  legislation  is  found  in  the  laws  prohibiting  the  sale  of  convict- 
made  goods  in  the  State  where  manufactured,  or  the  importation  of  such  goods. 

Prison  discipline  in  its  widest  significance  covers  the  entire  area  of  criminality 
as  related  to  the  criminal,  to  society,  and  the  state.  A  policy  that  ignores  either 
of  these  three  essential  features  is  manifestly  limited  in  its  scope.  The  remedies 
applied  are  often  unjust,  and  cruel  and  disastrous  in  their  results.  A  practical 
illustration  of  this  sort  of  narrowness  is  clearly  visible  in  the  occult  methods  of 
some  Governments  in  unloading  their  criminals  upon  some  other  Government. 
This  class  of  legislation  is  reprehensible  in  the  extreme  and  admits  of  no  apology 
in  the  closing  hours  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  invites  the  contempt  and  reso- 
lute resistance  of  the  civilized  world.  Every  nation  should  be  compelled  to  take 
care  of  its  own  criminals;  this  is  demanded  by  the  sternest  dictates  of  human 
propriety  and  fairness.  In  the  States  of  our  Federal  Union  there  ought  to  be  the 
strictest  uniformity  in  the  laws  and  their  enforcement  relative  to  crime.  For  one 
State  to  enact  laws  of  extreme  severity,  the  sole  result  of  which  is  to  drain  off  its 
criminal  population  into  ad  joining  States,  is  close  akin  to  an  insult  to  the  union  of 
States.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  State  to  enact  laws  sufficiently  severe  and  then 
see  to  it  that  they  are  promptly  and  impartially  enforced. 

Penal  institutions  are  established  and  maintained  for  the  protection  of  society, 
and  it  is  an  anomalous  condition  of  affairs  for  such  institutions  to  be  conducted 
in  a  manner  that  will  discriminate  against  any  class,  and  least  of  all  against 
its  manufacturers  and  skilled  artisans.  That  this  discrimination  does  exist  is 
attested  by  the  numerous  petitions  from  labor  organizations  and  other  associa- 
tions, as  well  as  from  individuals  for  remedial  legislation.  That  the  importance 
of  the  subject  has  been  appreciated,  is  attested  by  the  numerous  laws  regulating 
convict  labor  so  as  to  reduce  the  competition  with  free  labor.  It  is  apparent, 
however,  that  the  antagonistic  interests  of  the  different  States  has  retarded  the 
enactment  of  laws  that  will  control  the  use  of  convict  labor  so  that  it  shall  not 
operate  prejudicially  to  the  great  cause  of  labor  of  the  entire  country  irrespective 
of  political  subdivisions. 

In  order  to  assist  in  harmonizing  these  influences,  and  the  enacting  of  uniform 
legislation,  the  commission  has  taken  the  testimony  of  witnesses  who  are  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  the  different  methods  of  employing  convicts;  has  exam- 
ined numerous  State  and  national  reports  and  called  on  the  officials  of  a  number 
of  the  institutions  in  each  State  and  Territory  for  information  as  to  the  present 
method  of  employing  prisoners,  and  for  suggestions  as  to  changes  in  those  methods 
that  may  be  deemed  advantageous  to  the  prisoners  and  to  the  community. 

19 


20  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

The  number  of  convict  laborers  is  so  very  small  compared  with  the  masses  of 
honest  laborers,  that  the  subject  might  be  regarded  as  one  of  easy  solution.  It 
is  a  subject  linked  in  the  great  chain  of  circumstances  called  the  "labor  ques- 
tion." It  is  a  vast  subject  because  it  involves  the  consideration  of  the  great 
subject  of  competition,  a  subject  of  vital  interest  and  importance  in  the  sharp 
struggle  of  life. 

The  fact  that  the  labor  of  convicts  may  come  to  some  extent  in  conflict  or  com- 
petition with  other  labor  is  unavoidable.  All  labor  competes  with  other  labor, 
and  the  labor  that  an  individual  may  do  for  himself,  or  that  the  State  may  do  for 
itself,  is  in  a  sense  in  competition  with  other  labor.  Their  physical,  mental  and 
moral  well  being,  as  well  as  the  interests  of  the  State,  require  that  convicts 
should  be  employed.  As  the  shipment  of  1  or  2  per  cent  of  the  gold  of  the 
country  disturbs  the  money  market,  so,  the  underselling  in  any  industry  by 
manufacturers  employing  convict  labor,  materially  affects  the  entire  market  as 
to  the  price  of  the  products  of  that  industry.  And  this  is  true  even  if  the  convict 
labor  represents  but  1  or  2  per  cent  of  the  total  labor  employed  in  the  State  in 
that  one  kind  of  manufacture. 

The  objection  of  the  workingman  to  having  his  market  for  labor  taken  from 
him,  in  part  at  least,  by  the  more  cheaply  paid  or  less  expensive  convict  labor,  is 
very  natural  and  proper.  It  matters  not  whether  the  State  employs  the  convicts 
in  manufacturing  products  and  then  disposes  of  them  in  the  markets  of  the  State 
or  nation,  or  whether  it  leases  its  labor  to  individuals  or  firms  who  choose  to  use 
it,  and  who  dispose  of  the  products  of  the  convict  labor ;  the  result  is  the  same. 

In  the  policy  of  the  State,  as  to  penal  institutions,  the  profit  on  convict  labor 
should  be  the  last  matter  considered.  First,  the  safety  of  the  people  ;  second,  the 
reformation  of  the  criminal;  and  last  and  incidentally,  the  profitable  application 
of  the  labor  involved  in  carrying  out  the  primary  objects  of  all  penal  legislation. 
Penal  institutions  are  established  and  maintained  for  the  protection  of  society, 
and  society  can  readily  afford  to  sustain  whatever  legitimate  cost  that  protection 
may  involve.  But  when  such  institutions  are  converted  into  huge  factories, 
whose  products  are  thrown  upon  the  market  in  direct  competition  with  the  prod 
ucts  of  individual  enterprises  and  honest  industry,  they  become  an  injury  to 
the  society  they  are  designed  to  protect.  They  impose  special  disabilities  upon 
certain  classes  of  citizens,  and  indirectly  compel  them  to  support  public  institu- 
tions, the  burden  of  which  should  rest  equitably  upon  all.  The  question  of  self- 
support  should  certainly  be  subsidiary  to  considerations  of  public  policy.  It  is 
an  anomalous  condition  of  affairs  for  a  government  of  the  whole  people  to  dis- 
criminate against  any  class  and  least  of  all  against  its  manufacturers  and  skilled 
artisans. 

It  is  acknowledged  that  the  problem  as  to  the  best  method  of  obviating  the 
injurious  competition  complained  of,  is  not  of  ready  or  simple  solution ;  but 
whatever  difficulties  may  be  encountered  in  accomplishing  this  end,  it  should  be 
made  the  steadfast  purpose  of  the  State  ultimately  to  remove  the  disabilities 
which  the  present  system  thrusts  upon  many  worthy  citizens.  It  should  be  the 
aim  of  all  prison  legislation  to  improve  and  perfect  our  penal  and  reformatory 
system,  to  impress  upon  it  a  character  worthy  of  our  civilization,  to  make  it  a 
model  for  other  Nations,  and  to  render  it  effective  in  accomplishing  the  great 
end  of  all  just  prison  discipline,  the  reformation  of  its  subjects  and  their  restora- 
tion to  civil  life  as  honest  and  industrious  citizens. 

A  well-ordered  and  permanent  penal  system  is  a  powerful  agency  for  reforming 
the  criminal  class  and  for  the  economical  administration  of  justice  and  the  social 
improvement  of  a  great  population. 

The  prisons  are  not  institutions  run  by  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  making 
money,  and  the  attempts  to  make  them  so  have  resulted  in  a  waste  of  money. 


PRISON   LABOR.  21 

The  better  idea  of  the  prison  is  that  it  is  a  place  of  detention,  having  in  view  only 
proper  punishment  for  the  criminal,  and  his  reformation.  It  is  universally  con- 
ceded that  one  of  the  most  important  matters  connected  with  prison  discipline  is 
the  labor  of  the  convicts.  Our  penitentiary  system  started  with  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  and  it  was  not  long  before  labor  was  introduced  as  an  abso- 
lute necessity  to  prevent  the  deterioration  of  the  prisoners.  Labor  of  the  convicts, 
therefore,  has  developed  with  our  penal  system,  and  may  now  be  considered  as  an 
inseparable  part  of  that  system.  The  labor  affects  the  convict  directly,  and 
indirectly  affects  the  labor  of  persons  outside  the  prison. 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  CONVICT  TO  LABOR. 

There  ought  to  be  in  the  laws  such  comprehension  and  vigor  as  to  insure  the 
full  and  continuous  employment  of  the  convicts  in  some  useful  industry.  The 
greatest  success  is  always  found  in  the  most  diversified  occupations,  and  the 
selection  of  prisoners  who  have  fitness  for  some  one  of  them  for  employment  in 
such  industry.  Whoever  asserts  that  idleness  is  possible  in  a  prison,  without  all 
its  train  of  inevitable  evil ,  contradicts  the  plain  and  uniform  teaching  of  experience. 

The  State  owes  itself  and  its  citizens  the  duty  of  so  managing  the  convicts  that 
they  shall  not  be  made  worse  by  association  or  otherwise  in  their  seclusion,  but 
should  use  proper  effort  to  reform  the  criminal  and  make  him  a  better  citizen  on 
his  return  to  freedom. 

Labor  as  a  punishment  and  labor  as  a  duty  are  two  different  things.  In  a  prison 
labor  should  not  be  used  as  a  punishment,  except  in  its  application  to  the  individ- 
ual. Regardless  of  any  profit  that  may  be  derived  from  the  product  of  the  labor, 
it  is  of  vast  importance  that  it  should  be  used  as  an  auxiliary  in  the  treatment  of 
individuals.  The  severest  punishment  that  can  be  inflicted  on  a  prisoner  is  to 
deprive  him  of  labor.  The  primary  objects  are  the  reformation  and  punishment 
of  the  criminal,  and  not  gain  or  profit  to  the  State  that  will  result  from  his  labor. 

Industrial  training,  either  pure  and  simple,  or  by  engaging  convicts  in  some 
useful  industry,  is  the  only  way  to  make  them  obedient  and  tractable  while  in 
prison,  and  industrious  and  useful  members  of  society  when  they  are  released. 
It  is  necessary  that  trades  should  be  taught  and  practiced  in  the  same  manner  as 
they  are  practiced  in  the  world,  that  the  education  and  trade  training  should  fit 
men  when  they  come  out  to  support  themselves  in  the  way  the  world  requires,  as 
among  the  causes  of  crime  the  proximate  one  is  very  often  the  lack  of  ability  for 
self-support. 

Persons  convicted  of  felonies  (not  capital)  in  the  United  States  are  uniformly 
sentenced  to  imprisonment  with  hard  labor.  The  element  of  hard  labor  in  the 
sentence  is  the  dictate  at  once  of  justice  and  policy ;  of  justice,  because  it  is 
right  that  criminals,  who  have  put  the  State  to  more  or  less  expense,  should  do 
something  toward  defraying  the  public  cost  of  their  crimes;  of  policy,  because 
work  is  an  essential  condition  of  the  prisoner's  reformation;  and  reformation,  so 
far  as  this  class  of  prisoners  is  concerned,  is  the  great  interest  of  the  State. 

In  many  penal  institutions  labor  is  the  essential  element  in  the  reform 
training  of  the  individual,  and  through  it  he  becomes  accustomed  to  habits  of 
industry,  proficient  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  is  made  to  feel  that  he  has  ability  within 
himself  for  the  earning  of  an  honest  livelihood. 

The  plan  that  is  used  in  some  institutions  of  allowing  prisoners  to  look  forward 
to  the  certainty  of  being  employed  upon  a  better  grade  of  work,  as  a  reward  of 
industry,  acquired  proficiency,  and  general  good  conduct,  is  certain  to  lead  to 
results  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  the  prisoner,  the  institution  and  the  State.  The 
prisoner's  ambition  and  interests  are  aroused,  and  he  is  encouraged  to  pursue  a 
course  which  should  end  in  his  acquiring  a  useful  trade.  Society  at  large  is 
benefited  by  anything  that  tends  to  better  the  condition  of  the  prisoner  in  the 


22  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

way  of  improving  his  opportunities  of  earning  an  honest  livelihood  after  his 
release. 

The  importance  of  imparting  to  prisoners  the  complete  knowledge  of  a  trade,  as 
it  lies  in  the  minds  of  those  most  competent  to  form  and  pronounce  an  opinion, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  with  absolute  imanimity,  prison  officers 
declare  it  to  be  their  judgment  that  the  reformation  of  the  prisoner  would  be 
prompted  by  giving  greater  prominence  to  this  object;  and  they  further  declare 
it  as  their  opinion  that  reformation,  genuine  and  permanent,  whatever  the  first 
cost  of  it  may  be,  is  in  the  long  run,  the  cheapest  and  most  profitable,  and  will 
prove  the  greatest  ultimate  pecuniary  gain  to  the  State. 

The  reformatory  principle  has  undoubtedly  passed  out  of  its  experimental  stage. 
It  is  no  more  a  question  whether  it  will  be  a  success.  The  difference  in  the 
manner,  appearance  and  work  of  the  inmates  of  the  institutions  where  it  is  prac- 
ticed is  apparent  to  all.  It  is  based  upon  two  cardinal  principles.  First,  that,  for 
the  practical  purposes  of  society,  humane  laws  should  deal  with  crime  not  to 
avenge,  but  to  prevent  it.  Second,  that  punishment,  which  is  merely  vindictive 
and  repressive,  defeats  its  own  purpose,  and  tends  to  increase  the  mischief  which 
it  would  avert.  It,  therefore,  is  not  to  the  interest  of  the  prisoner  or  of  society, 
in  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  prisoner  personally  that  he  should  be  deprived  of 
labor.  That  this  privilege  of  allowing  the  convict  to  work  for  his  own  improve- 
ment can  be,  and  has  been  abused,  can  not  be  denied.  The  State  has  a  duty  to 
perform,  not  merely  to  the  convict  and  his  immediate  personal  relations  to  society, 
but  to  society  at  large,  and  is  due  to  the  very  labor  which  we  have  seen  is  so 
essential  to  the  prisoner's  reformation. 

THE  EFFECT  OF  PRISON  LABOR  ON  FREE  LABOR  AND  INDUSTRY. 

Prison  labor  and  free  labor  are  precisely  one  and  the  same  thing;  the  produc- 
tion of  each  is  the  production  of  labor.  The  system  of  applying  the  labor  and 
the  disposition  of  it  by  those  that  have  control  of  it  is  quite  another  matter. 
It  is  to  the  methods  in  which  the  convict  labor  is  used,  its  concentration  in  certain 
lines  of  industry  that  the  most  strenuous  objection  is  made. 

The  State  takes  charge  of  an  individual  for  the  commission  of  a  crime;  no  other 
authority  has  any  right  to  take  charge  of  him.  Notwithstanding  this  fact  numer- 
ous methods  have  been  developed  under  the  convict  systems  of  the  different 
States  whereby  the  State  shirks  a  large  share  of  its  responsibility  in  regard  to  the 
care  of  its  convicts. 

Before  considering  the  methods  and  systems  devised  for  controlling  the  work 
of  convicts,  it  is  well  to  compare  the  relative  efficiency  of  convict  and  free  labor, 
and  the  possible  effect  that  the  former  could  have  on  the  latter  under  any 
circumstances. 

Every  convict  who  does  a  day's  work  of  any  kind  which  a  free  laborer  might  do, 
competes  with  that  free  labor  to  that  extent;  in  other  words,  any  sort  of  pro- 
ductive labor  in  prisons,  or  any  process  by  which  the  aggregate  of  all  product  sin 
the  smallest  degree  is  increased,  in  or  out  of  prison,  must  in  the  nature  of  things 
compete  with  all  other  producing  agencies  in  that  degree.  Considered  in  the 
abstract  the  degree  of  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor  is  controlled 
by  the  relative  productive  power  in  the  two  agencies.  A  difference  in  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  convict  labor  and  free  labor  exists  in  the  very  nature  of  things. 
The  retarding  influences  to  convict  labor  may  be  enumerated  as  follows:  Impris- 
onment itself  is  an  obstacle  to  production.  A  willing  well-paid  workman  is 
always  more  effective,  more  careful  and  saving  in  his  work  than  one  working 
under  compulsion.  Many  convicts  are  defective  in  mind  or  body.  Many  were 
never  used  to  work  before  conviction.  Those  who  have  acquired  experience  and 
skill  go  out  on  the  expiration  of  their  sentences,  and  new  ones,  without  either 
qualification  take  their  places.  So  that  more  or  less  of  them  are  like  apprentices. 


PRISON   LABOR.  23 

The  opposition  made  to  the  use  and  sale  of  prison  products  is  another.  These  are 
branded  and  boycotted,  and  in  many  States  the  owner  is  required  to  pay  a  special 
expensive  license  for  permission  to  sell  them. 

According  to  a  report  made  by  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor  in 
1886,  it  was  demonstrated  that  "the  competition  arising  from  the  employment  of 
convicts,  so  far  as  the  whole  country  is  concerned,  would  not  of  itself  constitute  a 
question  worthy  of  serious  consideration.  The  products  of  the  prisons  were  then 
but.  fifty-four  one-hundredths  of  1  per  cent  of  the  total  mechanical  products  of 
the  country.  The  whole  prison  population  of  those  institutions  in  which  pro- 
ductive labor  was  then  carried  on  was  but  one  in  a  thousand  of  the  population 
of  the  country,  and  those  engaged  in  convict  productive  labor  but  one  in  three 
hundred  of  those  engaged  in  free  mechanical  labor.  The  total  value  of  the  labor 
expended  by  convicts  in  the  State  penitentiaries  and  prisons  of  like  grade  at  that 
time  did  not  much  exceed  $2,500,000,  or  a  little  more  than  one-tenth  of  1  per  cent 
of  the  total  wages  paid  in  the  manufacturing  industries  of  the  country  in  1890. 
These  facts,  however,  do  not  invalidate  the  claim  that  locally  and  in  certain  indus- 
tries the  competition  may  be  serious  and  of  such  proportions  as  to  claim  the  most 
earnest  attention.  This  has  been  firmly  established  by  the  testimony  of  work- 
men, individually  and  collectively,  through  their  organization;  manufacturers, 
individually  and  collectively,  through  association;  penologists,  commissioners, 
legislators,  both  State  and  Federal,  have  arrived  at  this  conclusion.  The  question, 
therefore,  is  one  of  public  polity,  and  the  public  is  entitled  to  know  all  the  points 
bearing  upon  it." 


CHAPTER  IT. 

EMPLOYMENT    OF    PRISONERS    FOR    THE     ADVANTAGE    OF    THE 
STATE  AND   PRIVATE  INDIVIDUALS. 

Convicts  may  be  employed  in  productive  labor  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
profits  of  their  labor  is  shared  by  the  State  with  private  individuals,  or  they  may 
be  so  employed  that  the  entire  profit  of  their  work  is  Tised  for  the  benefit  of  the 
State  exclusively.  The  practice  of  utilizing  convict  labor  for  the  joint  profit  and 
benefit  of  the  State  and  individuals  formerly  largely  predominated  throughout 
the  States,  but  the  realization  of  the  fact  that  the  State  should  take  entire  charge 
of  the  convicts  within  its  borders,  and  so  utilize  their  labor  that  the  products 
thereof  shall  have  no  advantage  in  the  market  over  the  products  of  free  labor, 
except  in  so  far  as  such  products  are  necessary  in  the  public  institutions  which 
are  supported  and  maintained  by  taxes  levied  upon  the  people;  combined  with 
the  popular  demand  that  the  practice  should  be  abandoned,  has  led  to  the  repeal 
of  the  laws  authorizing  such  employment,  and  the  gradual  adoption  of  laws 
tending  to  the  systems  of  employing  convicts  for  the  benefit  of  the  State  exclu- 
sively. 

The  systems  under  which  the  product  or  profit  of  the  prisoners'  labor  is  shared 
by  the  State  with  private  individuals  have  been,  and  possibly  are  now,  the  direct 
cause  of  more  antagonism  on  the  part  of  the  free  industry  of  the  country  than 
employment  under  any  other  system.  There  are  three  distinct  methods  for 
employing  convicts  under  this  general  system,  viz:  contract  system,  piece-price 
and  lease  system.  These  sytems  have  been  described  as  follows: 

THE   CONTRACT  SYSTEM 

Under  this  ssytem  contracts  are  made  with  persons,  firms  or  corporations,  in 
accordance  with  which  convicts  are  employed  in  manufacturing  industries  at 
certain  agreed  prices  for  their  labor,  for  fixed  periods  of  time,  the  prisoners 
working  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  contractor  or  his  agents,  but 
remaining  under  the  general  supervision  and  control  of  the  prison  authorities. 
The  contractors  are  frequently  furnished  with  the  power  and  even  the  machinery 
necessary  for  carrying  on  the  work,  by  the  penal  or  reformatory  institutions  in 
which  the  convicts  are  incarcerated. 

THE   PIECE-PRICE  SYSTEM. 

Under  this  system  contracts  are  made  with  persons,  firms  or  corporations 
under  which  the  prison  is  furnished  by  them  with  materials  in  proper  shape  for 
working;  the  materials  thus  furnished  are  converted  by  the  labor  of  the  con- 
victs into  finished  products  which  are  delivered  to  the  contractors  at  agreed 
prices  per  piece,  the  work  of  manufacturing  being  conducted  wholly  under  the 
supervision  of  the  prison  officials. 

THE   LEASE   SYSTEM. 

Under  this  system  convicts  are  leased  to  contractors  for  specified  sums,  and  for 
fixed  periods  of  time,  the  lessees  usually  undertaking  to  clothe,  feed,  care  for,  and 
maintain  proper  discipline  among  the  prisoners  while  they  perform  such  labor  as 
24 


PRISON    LABOR.  25 

may  have  been  determined  by  the  terms  of  the  lease.  The  labor  is  generally  per- 
formed outside  of  the  prison  walls,  and  is  rarely  employed  in  manufacturing 
industries,  but  usually  in  such  industries  as  mining,  or  railroad  building,  or  in 
agricultural  pursuits. 

The  opposition  of  the  free-labor  element  of  the  country  to  the  employment  of 
prisoners  under  either  of  the  three  systems  described  above  is  due  principally  to 
two  causes:  First,  until  recently  these  systems  were  in  more  general  use  than  any 
of  the  others,  and  second,  under  them  the  competition  with  free  labor  is  direct, 
and  because  of  that  directness  is  capable  of  great  severity. 

THE   CONTRACT  SYSTEM. 

This  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  lease  system,  and  is  in  many  States  worked  in  con- 
nection with  the  piece-price  system.  It  was  formerly  in  very  general  use  and  is 
still  popular  in  many  of  the  States. 

In  the  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Department  of  Labor  for  the  year  1886  it 
is  stated — 

"  That  under  this  system  more  convicts  were  employed  and  more  goods  manu- 
factured than  under  any  other.  In  its  practical  working  the  prison  officers,  under 
legal  instruction,  usually  advertise  for  bids  for  the  employment  of  the  convicts 
of  their  respective  institutions,  the  highest  responsible  bidder  securing  the  con- 
tract. The  contractor  commonly  engages  to  employ  a  certain  number  of  con- 
victs at  a  certain  price  per  day,  '  he  institution  or  the  State  furnishing  the  power, 
and  sometimes  machinery,  but  rarely  tools;  the  convicts  to  be  employed,  as  a 
general  thing,  within  the  walls  of  the  prison. 

"  The  advantages  of  the  contract  system  are  great,  when  pecuniary  results  are 
the  chief  ends  sought.  Under  it  the  labor  returns  or  income  constituted  65  per 
cent  of  the  running  expenses,  taking  those  institutions  in  the  country  that  were 
run  under  the  system  purely.  The  contract  system  secures  the  constant  employ- 
ment of  convicts,  as  the  contractor  engages  to  keep  employed  the  number  of 
prisoners  specified  in  the  contract.  He  can  not,  as  a  rule,  even  stop  their  labor  by 
paying  for  their  time.  The  treasury  of  the  State  by  this  practice  is  the  gainer. 
This  system  relieves  the  prison  officials  of  the  necessity  of  being  the  managers  of 
great  manufacturing  establishments,  a  prison  warden,  under  it,  being  selected  for 
his  general  administrative  qualities  and  his  efficiency  and  experience  in  dealing 
with  men.  He  may  or  may  not  be  inclined  to  conduct  his  institution  on  the  best 
reformatory  principles,  and  he  may  or  may  not  be  a  political  appointee,  too  often 
he  i?;  though  States  are  more  and  more  recognizing  the  necessity  of  keeping  men  at 
the  head  of  their  great  prisons  who  are  adapted  to  the  work  assigned  them,  without 
regard  to  party  affiliations.  Men  can  be  secured  to  act  as  wardens  more  readily 
than  they  can  be  found  who  make  not  only  efficient  wardens  but  efficient  and 
successful  manufacturers,  especially  if,  as  manufacturers,  they  were  to  be  com- 
pelled to  manage  several  different  industries.  In  a  financial  sense  simply  the 
contract  system  is  the  most  profitable  of  any  to  the  State  except  the  so-called  lease 
system.  Prison  officers,  prison  commissioners,  and  those  directly  responsible  to  the 
State  for  the  conduct  of  prisons  are,  as  a  rule,  in  favor  of  the  contract  system, 
because  it  is  their  ambition,  not  only  from  a  personal  point  of  view,  but  from  that 
of  patriotism,  to  have  the  institutions  under  their  charge  as  little  burden  as  pos- 
sible to  the  treasury,  and  to  make  the  proceeds  of  the  employment  of  convicts 
equal  or  exceed  the  running  expenses  of  the  institutions  involved. 

"  It  is  usually  claimed  by  those  who  believe  the  contract  system  is  the  best  that 
can  be  adopted,  that  sufficient  reformatory  effort  can  be  put  forth  under  it.  They 
claim  that  the  contractors'  men,  instructors  and  foremen  are  as  thoroughly  re- 
sponsible to  the  State  as  if  they  were  employees  of  the  State.  The  chief  advan- 
tages, in  brief,  however,  are  the  constant  employment  of  the  convicts,  the  best  re- 
munerative results,  and  the  avoidance  of  business  risks  on  the  part  of  the  State." 

The  contract  system  will  permit  of  a  high  degree  of  reformatory  and  disci- 
plinary potency  in  administration,  and  may  be  so  conducted  as  to  eliminate  many 
of  the  objectionable  features  of  the  competition  with  free  labor,  but  these  prin- 
ciples are  not  in  harmony  with  the  theory  of  the  system,  and  are  enabled  rather 
by  restrictive  legislation  than  otherwise.  This  restraining  feature  of  the  laws 
regulating  the  contracts  of  convict  labor  has  brought  the  system  to  a  good  degree 


26  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

of  adaptation  and  completeness  for  the  purpose  of  a  labor  system  in  prisons.  It 
now  has  the  indorsement  of  most  respectable  expert  and  humane  authorities  who 
have  practical  conversances  with  prison  management. 

The  character  of  these  legal  restrictions  on  the  contract  system  are  clearly 
indicated  by  the  following  quotations  from  the  recommendations  made  by  Mr. 
Charles  F.  Peck,  commissioner  of  labor  of  New  York,  in  his  first  annual  report, 
submitted  in  January,  1894: 

"  It  seems  to  me  not  impossible  to  outline  such  a  plan  of  general  prison  discipline 
and  management  as  will,  if  embodied  in  the  law,  enable  the  superintendent  of 
State  prisons  to  so  administer  the  affairs  of  that  department  that  the  grievances  now 
existing  and  complained  of  may  be  removed  and  a  system  established  which  will 
make  the  prisons  reformative  and  self -sustaining  without  infringing  upon  the 
rights  of  free  labor  or  of  invested  capital. 

"  First.  That  the  superintendent  of  State  prisons  be  prohibited  by  law  to  make 
or  premit  any  contract  with  any  party  or  corporation  for  the  labor  of  convicts 
in  any  of  the  prisons  of  the  State. 

"  Second.  That  the  superintendent  of  State  prisons  shall  immediately  cause  to 
be  piiblished,  in  the  manner  now  provided  by  law  for  contracts  for  the  labor  of 
convicts,  notices  of  proposals  for  manufacturing  to  be  carried  on  in  the  said 
prisons  in  such  branches  of  industry  as  to  him  seem  best  adapted  to  the  discipline 
of  the  prisons  and  the  remunerative  employment  of  the  convicts. 

"Third.  That  such  notice  of  proposals,  and  all  contracts  made  in  pursuance 
thereof,  shall  contain  the  following  conditions: 

"  (a)  The  party  or  corporation  entering  into  such  contract  with  the  State  shall 
agree  to  put  in  such  prison,  at  their  own  expense,  all  machinery  and  appliances 
necessary  for  the  carrying  on  of  such  industry,  and  to  furnish  the  raw  material 
used  in  connection  therewith. 

"  (6)  Such  party  or  corporation  shall  also  pay  such  reasonable  rent  for  the  use  of 
shops,  storeroom,  and  prison  machinery  required  to  carry  on  such  industiy  as  the 
warden  of  the  prison  may  consider  just  and  proper. 

"(c)  Such  party  or  corporation  shall  pay  to  the  warden  of  the  prison  the  price 
agreed  upon  for  the  goods  manufactured  under  such  contract,  said  price  to  be 
estimated  by  the  piece  in  the  same  manner  as  in  similar  industries  outside  the 
prisons. 

"  (d)  Such  firm  or  corporation  shall  also  agree  to  pay  for,  at  the  stipulated  price, 
all  goods  manufactured  under  the  terms  of  the  contract,  which  are  made  to  the 
standard  of  perfection  agreed  upon  between  the  warden  and  such  contracting 
parties,  said  contract  to  specify  the  maximum  number  of  convicts  to  be  employed 
thereunder. 

"(e)  The  warden  shall  agree  to  conduct  the  industry  specified  in  such  contract 
with  due  care  and  economy;  to  keep  the  machinery  in  proper  repair,  and  return 
the  same  to  the  contracting  parties  at  the  expiration  of  the  contract  in  as  good 
condition  as  when  received,  natural  wear  and  unavoidable  accidents  excepted;  to 
employ  necessary  instructors  and  foremen;  and  to  furnish  to  the  contractors, 
according  to  the  terms  of  the  agreement,  the  manufactured  goods  of  the  grade 
and  standard  of  workmanship  specified. 

"  (/)  That  the  employment  of  the  convicts  shall  be  under  the  exclusive  control 
of  the  proper  officers  of  the  prisons. 

"(gr)  No  agent  or  employee  of  the  contracting  parties  shall  be  allowed  inter- 
course with  the  prisoners,  or  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  their  management,  except 
such  skilled  instructors  as  may,  by  permission  of  the  warden,  be  allowed  to  assist 
the  foremen  and  instructors  in  improving  or  perfecting  the  quality  of  the  manu- 
factured goods. 

"  (h)  The  contracting  parties  shall,  on  or  before  the  10th  day  of  each  month,  pay 
to  the  warden  such  sum  of  money  as  shall  have  become  due  for  goods  manufac- 
tured under  the  contract  during  the  preceding  month. 

"Fourth.  The  maximum  number  of  convicts  to  be  employed  in  all  the  State 
prisons  in  any  industry  shall  not  exceed  10  per  cent  of  the  number  of  free  mechanics 
employed  in  that  identical  industry  in  the  State,  and  in  no  case  shall  more  than 
300  convicts  be  employed  in  any  one  industry  or  separate  branches  thereof. 

"Fifth.  Finally,  I  recommend  that  the  appointment  of  all  officers  under  the 
superintendent  of  State  prisons  be  nonpartisan  and  their  term  of  office  be  made 
permanent,  dependent  only  upon  good  conduct  and  efficiency." 

It  is  contended  by  the  prison  authorities  of  Michigan  that  they  are  doing  as 
much  for  the  moral,  intellectual  and  educational  care  of  the  prisoners  they  work 


PRISON   LABOR.  27 

tinder  contract  as  for  those  worked  on  the  State  account  system,  and  also  that 
the  industries  carried  on  under  the  State  account  system  have  met  with  more 
opposition  from  the  labor  unions  than  the  labor  carried  on  under  contract.  In 
commenting  on  the  system,  as  now  conducted  in  that  State,  Mr.  O.  M.  Barnes, 
president  of  the  joint  prison  boards,  states  that — 

"  The  attitude  of  this  State  is  that  whatever  the  system  of  work  the  convict 
should  never  be  placed  under  the  control  of  other  than  prison  officers;  and  that 
that  system  of  work  should  be  pursued  that  is  found  in  fact  the  best  for  the  State, 
all  things  being  taken  into  account.  That  form  of  the  contract  system  existing 
in  some  of  the  States  where  the  convict  is  placed  under  the  dominion  of  the  con- 
tractor is  deemed  objectionable  because  of  this  dominion.  The  treatment  of  the 
prisoner  should  always  be,  and  in  this  State  is,  the  same  under  the  one  system  as 
under  the  other.  Where  this  is,  or  can  be  made,  the  case  the  prisons  should,  of 
course,  adopt  the  system  of  work  that  produces  in  each  case  the  best  financial 
results  to  the  people. 

' '  The  fact  that  under  the  contract  system  the  contractor  furnishes  the  machinery, 
raw  materials  and  working  capital,  furnishes  and  pays  the  superintendents,  and 
is  at  the  expense  of  selling  the  product,  renders  the  contract  system  an  advantage 
to  the  State  in  many  cases,  as  the  State  thereby  avoids  these  expenses  and  escapes 
the  risks  and  loss  of  trade.  Government  is  not  so  well  constituted  to  look  after 
these  thing,  as  affairs  now  are,  as  private  parties. 

"A  more  certain  mode  of  securing  skilled  and  successful  managers  of  these 
prison  industries  is,  to  let  convicts  to  contractors,  who  have  the  skill  and  experi- 
ence1 requisite  to  succeed.  In  this  way  each  industry  comes  under  the  control  of 
a  skilled  manager. 

"If  all  the  convicts  should  be  employed  on  a  single  large  industry, superin- 
tendents would  be  fewer.  But  diversification  is  desirable. 

"Experience  is  valuable  in  business.  So  is  steadiness.  It  is  important  that  no 
changes  be  made,  save  to  improve.  Successful  management  must  be  steady  as 
well  as  intelligent.  As  conditions  now  are,  the  prisons'  management  of  busi- 
ness on  State  account  is  liable  to  more  changes  than  manufacturing  by  contractors. 

"  One  aspersion  upon  contract  labor  is  undeserved.  It  is  said  that  the  contract 
system  is  a  kind  of  slavery;  and  that  it  makes  the  convict  a  kind  of  slave.  Is  it 
anymore  slavery  than  when  the  convict  is  made  to  work  against  his  will  on  State 
account?  If  the  one  is  slavery,  then  the  other  is  also. 

"It  is  also  said, in  opposition  to  the  contract  system, that  contractors  do  not 
pay  as  much  for  the  labor  of  convicts  as  free  laborers  command.  This  too,  has 
no  actual  bearing  on  the  question  of  systems;  but  if  it  does,  the  answer  is  easy. 
For  first,  the  contractors  pay  as  much  as  the  State  can  make  the  convicts  earn 
for  the  State  when  they  work  on  State  account,  and,  second,  the  State  gets  as 
much  for  the  labor  of  the  convicts  as  it  is  worth  under  existing  conditions  when 
compared  with  free  labor.  The  Government  statistics  show  that  convicts  pro- 
duce only  one-third  the  value  per  man  on  an  average  that  free  workmen  in  the 
same  industries  produce.  When  the  labor  of  convicts  is  let  due  advertisement  is 
made,  and  the  price  is  the  highest  bid.  Low  as  the  price  is  many  prison  contract- 
ors give  up  their  contracts  and  take  their  manuf  acturing  out  of  the  prison  to  be 
carried  on  with  free  labor  at  the  higher  wages  because  they  can  do  better  thereby. 
This  has  often  occurred  in  the  Michigan  State  prison." 

In  most  of  the  States  in  which  the  contract  system  prevails,  the  hours  of  work 
that  can  be  exacted  by  the  contractor  are  limited,  as  is  also,  when  possible,  the 
amount  of  work;  the  prisoners  are  amenable  only  to  prison  officials  for  breaches 
of  discipline,  and  they  frequently  have  the  privilege  of  earning  extra  wages  for 
their  own  use  and  benefit  when  the  day's  task  is  finished.  The  prisoners  are 
employed  within  the  prison  walls  and  under  the  supervision  of  the  warden,  and 
he  has  the  authority  to  stop  any  abuse  of  power  that  may  be  practiced  by  the  con- 
tractors. 

The  feature  of  the  contract  system  that  commends  it  most  strongly,  is  the  almost 
uniform  financial  success  that  has  attended  its  adoption.  Under  it  the  State 
avoids  the  expense  of  machinery,  avoids  the  necessity  of  supplying  working  cap- 
ital, avoids  the  employment  of  high-priced  superintendents  and  salesmen,  and 
escapes  the  risk  and  losses  of  trade. 

The  desirable  features  of  the  system  have  been  very  tersely  stated  by  Mr.  Louis 
D.  Pillsbury,  superintendent  of  the  State  prisons  of  New  York,  in  a  report  pre- 


28  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL   COMMISSION. 

pared  by  him  in  response  to  a  resolution  of  the  assembly  adopted  in  March,  1880, 
and  directing  him  to  report  all  available  practical  information  in  his  possession,  or 
that  may  be  collected  from  home  or  abroad,  bearing  upon  the  subject  of  prison 
labor,  with  the  purpose  of  securing  a  greater  variety  and  diffusion  of  employment 
in  the  prison,  and  with  the  intent,  without  wrong  to  any  branch  of  mechanical 
industry,  without  injury  to  those  in  prison,  and  without  harm  to  the  State,  of  sub- 
stituting, in  part  or  whole,  for  the  contract  system  some  other  good  form  or  kind 
of  labor.  Mr.  Pillsbury  summarizes  his  conclusion  as  follows: 

"  From,  my  own  observations,  and  from  all  the  information  I  have  been  enabled 
to  obtain  at  home  or  abroad  on  this  important  question,  I  have  come  to  the  fol- 
lowing conclusions: 

"  That  every  prisoner  who  is  able  to  do  so  should  be  required  to  labor. 

"  That  this  labor,  for  moral  as  well  as  for  economic  reasons,  should  be  produc- 
tive; all  systems  of  nonproductive  labor,  merely  for  punishment,  having  been 
abandoned  by  civilized  governments  because  it  is  degrading  and  mischievous  in 
its  effects  upon  prisoners  and  unjust  to  the  State.  Such  labor  lies  at  the  founda- 
tion of  every  successful  system,  of  reformation.  Society  has  a  right  to  demand  it 
as  a  partial  restitution  for  the  depredations  of  criminals,  and  for  tho  cost  of  their 
arrest,  trial,  and  maintenance  in  prison. 

"  That  no  system  of  prison  labor  which  human  ingenuity  has  yet  been  able  to 
devise  is  free  from  objections;  but  that,  so  long  as  the  people  of  this  State  demand 
that  the  prisons  shall  be  self-sustaining,  the  present  contract  system  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred, because — 

"1.  It  produces  the  best  financial  results. 

"2.  It  does  not  interfere  with  outside  mechanical  industries  any  more  than  any 
other  system  of  productive  labor  that  has  yet  been  devised. 

"3.  It  gives  to  the  prisoners  some  knowledge  of  a  handicraft  and  enforces 
habits  of  industry,  without  which  they  are  almost  sure  to  return  to  a  criminal 
career,  and  with  which  they  are  enabled  to,  and  in  many  instances  do,  lead  honest 
and  useful  lives  upon  their  discharge. 

"4.  It  is  not  injurious  to  health,  as  is  shown  by  the  small  number  of  hospital 
patients  in  our  State  prisons  and  by  mortality  lists  that  compare  favorably  with 
those  of  communities  in  general  outside  of  the  prisons.  Our  convicts  generally 
leave  prison  in  better  mental  and  physical  health  than  when  received. 

"  The  cost  of  maintaining  the  prisons  of  this  State  for  the  last  fiscal  year  was 
$422,737.97;  in  1876  the  cost  was  $605,040.53. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"An  erroneous  impression  prevails  that  the  contract  system  interferes  with  the 
discipline  of  the  prisons,  at  least  so  far  as  this  State  is  concerned.  In  every  con- 
tract there  is  a  clause  providing  that  the  contractor  shall  have  no  control  over,  and 
shall  in  no  manner  interfere  with  the  prison  discipline.  The  State  retains  abso- 
lute control,  and  the  employes  of  the  contractors  are  required  to  observe  the  rules 
as  strictly  as  the  prison  officers  themselves.  No  favoritism  or  rewards  for  extra 
work  are  permitted,  nor  are  prisoners  allowed  to  be  overworked,  nor  are  punish- 
ments inflicted  upon  complaints  of  instructors  unless  upon  proper  investigation 
by  the  warden  or  deputy  such  complaints  are  ascertained  to  be  well  founded. 
Any  serious  info  action  of  the  rules  by  an  instructor  results  in  his  instant  dismissal. 
There  is  no  more  liability  to  interfere  with  discipline  under  this  system  than  there 
would  be  under  any  other  requiring  an  equal  number  of  men  in  charge  of  the 
workshops.  The  officers  and  representatives  of  the  contractors  alike  understand 
that  their  tenures  of  office  depend  upon  a  strict  observance  of  prison  rviles. 

"  My  conclusion  is  that  in  eras  of  prosperity  the  competition  of  prison  labor  is 
not  felt;  that  during  periods  of  depression  it  is  felt,  not  because  the  contractor 
has  an  unfair  advantage,  but  simply  for  the  reason  that  its  products  add  to  mar- 
kets then  usually  overstocked;  and  that  this  would  also  be  the  result  of  any  sys- 
tem of  productive  labor  that  has  yet  been,  or  ever  can  be,  devised.  It  certainly 
is  the  result  of  the  only  other  practicable  system  having  any  reference  to  profit 
now  in  operation  in  the  Northern  States  with  which  I  am  familiar,  namely,  the 
public-account  system.  That  is  now  an  experiment  at  the  Elmira  reformatory, 
which,  under  its  present  management,  undoubtedly  produces  as  much  on  State 
account  as  could  be  done  under  contracts  tc  individuals.  The  only  difference  is 
that  the  State  realizes  the  profit  or  is  subjected  to  the  loss  on  its  products  instead 
of  the  contractor.  But  that  is  a  consideration  of  no  real  concern,  either  to  the 
prisoner  or  to  the  free  laborer,  the  vital  question  being  how  far  the  market  is 
affected  by  the  products  of  their  labor.  But  that  system  applied  to  our  State 
prisons  would  be  certain  to  end  in  loss  to  the  State.  It  would  be  next  to  impossi- 


PRISON    LABOR.  29 

bleto  find  men  to  take  cnarge  of  them  combining  the  qualities  of  a  successful  prison 
manager  and  the  business  capacity  necessary  to  manage  successfully,  not  merely 
a  single  great  industry,  but  a  variety  of  smaller  ones;  and  if  such  men  could  be 
found,  private  enterprise  would  offer  them  far  greater  inducements  than  could  be 
offered  to  a  prison  warden.  The  State  of  New  York  had  sufficient  experience  of 
the  system  in  the  losses  resulting  from  its  manufacture  of  iron  at  Clinton  and 
lime  at  Sing  Sing  on  State  account  to  warn  it  against  repeating  the  costly  experi- 
ment in  the  future." 

In  further  defense  of  the  contract  system,  and  in  answer  to  a  proposition,  that 
the  convict  labor  shall  not  be  lower  than  the  average  pay  for  honest  labor  simi- 
larly employed  and  that  there  be  a  considerable  reduction  in  the  hours  of  convict 
labor,  Mr.  Pillsbury  stated: 

"  No  contractor  would  pay  as  much  for  convict  labor,  because  it  is  not  worth 
as  much.  It  is  open  for  competition  at  all  times  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  yet 
there  i?  a  considerable  proportion  of  convict  labor  unemployed  at  this  moment, 
because  there  are  no  takers,  even  at  the  present  rates.  Contractors  do  not  have 
the  selection  of  their  men,  but  are  obliged  to  take  them  as  they  come,  nearly  all 
of  them  without  a  knowledge  of  the  trade,  and  some  of  them  nearly  worthless. 
Compulsory  penal  labor,  without  hope  of  reward  or  ambition  which  prompts 
other  labor  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  skill,  possesses  but  little  com- 
parative value,  and  if  the  price  of  skilled  outside  labor  were  asked  for  it, it  would 
remain  forever  unemployed.  Besides,  the  contractor  can  not  shut  his  prison  shop 
and  discharge  his  men  when  there  is  no  demand  for  his  goods,  as  other  employers 
do,  but  is  required  to  employ  his  men  the  year  round,  or,  as  sometimes  happens, 
pay  their  wages  when  unemployed  rather  than  accumulate  stock  when  there  is  no 
demand." 

In  April,  1877,  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania  appointed  a  joint  special  com- 
mittee to  investigate  the  contract  convict  labor  system,  as  carried  on  in  the  penal 
institutions  of  the  commonwealth,  and  among  other  things  to  report,  the  effect 
of  contract  convict  labor  on  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  State.  After  a 
full  discussion  of  all  the  evidence  and  its  bearing  on  this  subject,  the  committee 
reported  that  it  was  satisfied  that  contract  convict  labor  has  little  or  no  effect,  as 
carried  on  in  this  State,  on  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  commonwealth. 

The  legislature  of  Connecticut  in  1879  passed  a  resolution  establishing  a  com- 
mission to  inquire  into  the  feasibility  of  abolishing  the  system  of  contract  convict 
labor  in  the  State  prison,  and  to  devise,  if  possible,  a  plan  by  which  the  prisoners 
can  be  kept  at  regular  and  fairly  remunerative  employment  in  some  other  way 
than  by  contract;  to  inquire  further  as  to  what  kind  of  employment,  that  can  be 
successfully  carried  on  in  the  prison ,  will  least  conflict  with  the  manufacturing 
interests  of  the  State.  This  commission  reported  in  favor  of  the  contract  convict 
labor  system  as  then  carried  on  in  Connecticut,  in  the  following  language: 

"  Every  avenue  of  information  at  home  and  abroad  has  been  carefully  searched; 
months  have  been  devoted  to  the  inquiry;  reports  of  similar  investigations  in  the 
United  States,  Canada,  and  Europe  have  been  read  and  considered;  the  written 
opinions  of  men  who  have  made  the  science  of  penology  a  careful  study  have  been 
obtained;  all  who  have  had  complaints  to  make  have  been  heard,  and,  as  a  result, 
the  commission  have  failed  to  discover  any  ground  for  the  complaints  made 
against  the  Connecticut  State  prison  or  the  contract  system.  They  are  satisfied — 

"That  there  are  no  favored  contractors  in  this  State.  The  complaint  of  war- 
dens and  directors  all  over  the  country  is:  We  have  great  difficulty  in  finding 
responsible  parties  to  take  our  prison  labor.  Prison  contracts  can  be  had  at  almost 
any  time  by  responsible  parties.  Three  hundred  convicts  are  now  idle,  waiting 
to  be  contracted  for  in  New  Jersey. 

"  That  the  price  paid  for  convict  labor  is  not  greatly  below  its  value.  For  while 
convicts  can,  and  in  some  cases  do,  do  as  much  work  as  a  free  man,  yet  as  a  rule 
they  do  not  accomplish  more  than  half,  while  they  may,  after  sufficient  practice, 
do  as  good  work  as  is  done  by  free  labor,  yet  almost  without  exception  they  are 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  work,  unskilled  in  any  work,  and  have  no  interest  in 
working  fast. 

"  That  the  profit  of  contractors  as  a  rule  is  not  larger  than  the  profit  of  the  ordi- 
nary manufacturers  is  proven  by  figures  of  actual  profit,  both  with  free  and  con- 
vict labor,  and  by  the  further  fact  that  as  many  prison  contractors  fail  as  free 
manufacturers.  This  is  proved  by  the  records  of  the  Connecticut  State  prison. 


30  UNITED    STATES   INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

The  claim  that,  except  in  the  hat  trade,  one  man  who  desired  to  work  has  been 
deprived  of  employment,  or  that  workingmen,  except  hatters,  have  had  their 
wages  reduced,  or  that  any  have  been  reduced  to  want  or  crime,  has  not  been  stis- 
tained  by  one  item  of  proof,  and  it  is  not  believed  that  any  proof  exists. 

"  That,  with  the  exception  of  the  hatting  trade,  the  commission  have  had  noth- 
ing to  satisfy  them  that  the  industries  of  this  State  are  affected  by  competition 
with  prison  industries  or  by  speculation  or  corrupt  competition  between  prison 
contractors  of  this  or  any  other  State. 

"That  although  manufacturers  and  artisans  have  had  every  opportunity  to  be 
heard,  both  before  this  commission  and  the  joint  commission  of  three  States,  they 
have  failed  to  show  a  single  instance  where  the  'wages  of  free  labor  have  been 
minimized  or  even  reduced,  except  as  above,  in  Connecticut,  by  the  combined 
power  and  capital  of  the  State,'  or  'by  unfair  and  odious  competition  with  com- 
pulsory labor.'  That  prison-made  goods  do  not  as  a  rule  undersell  free  manufac- 
tures. On  the  contrary,  the  evidence  before  the  commission  is  that  prison  manu- 
factures bring  a  higher  price.  This  is  true  of  the  boots  and  shoes  of  Connecticut, 
Rhode  Island,  Vermont,  and  probably  other  States.  John  S.  Perry,  of  New  Jer- 
sey, says  he  has  not  in  a  single  instance  undersold  free  manufacture,  and  the  man- 
ufacturers of  stoves,  who  at  first  feared  his  convict  labor,  are  now  satisfied  that 
they  can  compete  with  him.  This  is  also  the  statement  of  Mr.  Bigelow,  of  the 
Bay  State  Shoe  and  Leather  Company. 

"That  the  contract  system,  while  not  so  strictly  reformatory  as  is  desirable,  yet 
inasmuch  as  it  teaches  habits  of  industry,  a  love  of  work,  and  so  much  of  a  trade 
as  will  enable  a  released  convict  to  earn  an  honest  livelihood,  and  also  as  it  insures 
the  State  constant  employment  for  its  convicts,  and  fair  financial  returns,  is  the 
best  system  to  follow  until  a  time  shall  arrive  when  the  present  prison  buildings 
can  be  abandoned  for  ref ormatories,  and  labor  shall  only  be  used  as  an  aid  to  refor- 
mation. And  in  reformatories  this  system  will  be  decidedly  the  best  until  men  are 
found  of  the  dual  ability  required  to  be  a  successful  warden  and  manufacturer. 
For,  while  men  may  be  found  who  will  succeed  admirably  in  one  position,  few  men 
will  succeed  in  both. 

"While  the  commission  have  set  forth  their  reasons  for  believing  that  it  is  not 
expedient  to  abolish  the  contract  system,  they  are  not  insensible  to  the  fact  that 
the  system  has  many  defects.  The  remedy  for  one  class  of  these  defects  has  been 
shown  to  be  the  appointment,  by  the  States,  of  competent,  judicious  and  honest 
officers,  who  shall  be,  as  they  are  in  this  State,  free  from  partisan  influence,  and 
secured  in  the  tenure  of  their  offices  during  good  behavior.  There  is  also  great 
need  of  some  safeguard  restricting  the,  at  present,  unlimited  power  which  permits 
contracts  to  be  made  for  convict  labor  without  consulting  any  of  the  industrial 
interests  of  the  States.  " 

The  bureau  of  statistics  of  labor  of  Massachusetts  in  a  report  on  convict  labor 
submitted  in  January,  1897,  stated  that: 

"  We  are  satisfied  that  in  the  greatest  practical  diversity  of  employment  under 
well-defined  contracts,  properly  and  publicly  secured,  lies  the  best  remedial  propo- 
sition relative  to  competition  in  trades,  and  the  essential  reformatory  methods  the 
policy  of  the  State  demands. 

"  That  with  the  present  policy  of  prison  administration  in  Massachusetts,  the 
contract  system  of  labor,  either  by  the  day  or  by  the  piece,  is  the  wisest  as  a  rule, 
but  that  the  administration  should  have  power  to  adopt  the  public  account  system 
if  for  the  interest  of  the  State. 

"  In  order  that  the  best  possible  pecuniary  results  may  be  obtained  for  prison 
labor,  and  at  the  same  time  the  advantages  secured  in  making  contracts  which 
accrue  from  free  and  open  competition  in  bidding  for  the  labor  of  convicts,  we 
recommend  a  law  providing  that  no  contract  shall  be  entered  into  for  the  use  of 
such  labor,  by  the  day  or  by  the  piece,  except  after  thorough  advertisement  in 
different  parts  of  the  State  for  proposals,  publication  of  notice  for  proposals  to  be 
for  at  least  two  months;  and  further,  that  no  contract  shall  be  executed,  except 
upon  the  approval  of  the  governor  and  council.'' 

A  commission  appointed  in  conformity  with  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  legis- 
islature  of  New  Jersey  in  1878,  reported  as  follows  on  the  contract  system  of 
employing  convicts: 

"The  system  of  contracting  the  labor  of  convicts,  though  liable  to  abuse,  has 
been  so  limited  and  guarded  in  New  Jersey  as  to  prevent  most  of  the  evils  com- 
plained of  with  regard  to  it  in  other  States.  The  prison,  the  shops,  the  prisoners 
and  the  contractor  and  his  agents  are  subject  to  the  rules  and  discipline  of  the 
prison,  no  infringement  of  which  is  tolerated." 


PRISON    LABOR.  31 

Take  away  the  legal  restrictions  imposed  on  the  contractor  and  it  will  be  con- 
ceded at  once  that  if  the  foremost  object  is  to  exact  from  the  convict  financial 
benefit  to  the  State,  and  other  considerations  are  to  be  made  subordinate  to  that, 
no  system  could  be  more  effectual  than  the  contract,  unless  it  is  the  old  lease 
system,  which  surrenders  the  convict  at  once  to  anyone  who  will  take  him  and 
keep  him. 

The  contract  system  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  lease  system,  and  since  its  incip- 
iency  has  been  constantly  criticised  because  of  its  lack  of  reformatory  features; 
the  direct  and  severe  competition  with  free  labor  and  industry  that  can  be 
attained  by  its  use,  as  well  as  the  opportunity  it  affords  for  prison  officials  to  shirk 
their  responsibility  for  the  care,  discipline,  punishment,  and  reformation  of  the 
criminal. 

The  one  feature  of  the  system  that  commends  its  use  is  the  financial  benefit  that 
it  is  possible  for  the  State  to  derive  from  the  work  of  the  convicts  under  it,  and  it 
is  contended  that  this  feature  alone  condemns  the  whole  system,  in  that  the  con- 
tractors, individuals,  would  not  pay  for  such  results  unless  the  privileges  granted 
in  return  were  such  as  to  allow  them  discretion  in  the  working  of  the  convict  and 
in  the  disposal  of  the  product.  Having  these  privileges  there  is  but  one  way  that 
the  contractor  can  utilize  them,  and  that  is  for  his  financial  benefit,  regardless  of 
the  welfare  of  the  State,  the  convict  or  of  other  private  industrial  enterprises. 

The  vast  majority  of  the  committees,  commissions,  boards  and  bureaus  that 
luive  investigated  the  contract  system  have  either  recommended  that  it  be  abol- 
ished or  constantly  modified  in  the  vain  attempt  to  restrict  the  contractor  and  to 
keep  the  convict,  as  distinct  from  his  labor,  under  the  control  and  supervision  of 
State  officials. 

Aside  from  whatever  diversity  of  opinion  may  be  held  as  to  the  true  penal  sys- 
tem, or  whatever  measure  may  be  considered  feasible,  it  must  be  conceded  that 
the  contract  system  rests  upon  a  pronounced  popular  disapproval;  that  it  is 
a  bar  to  any  progressive,  scientific  treatment  of  the  criminal  classes;  that  it 
imposes  a  special  burden,  which  should  be  borne  by  the  whole  people,  upon  a 
comparatively  few  industries,  and  those  who  subsist  by  them. 

If  a  broad  view  is  taken  of  the  convict-labor  question  the  system  that  will  com- 
mend itself  is  that  which  first  most  effectually  protects  society,  both  in  its  moral  and 
material  interests,  regardless  of  any  pecuniary  profits  which  may  accrue  from  it; 
then  it  is  believed  the  contract  system  can  not  be  considered. 

The  material  interests  of  society  are  not  subserved  by  the  contract  system. 
This  was  emphasized  by  report  made  as  early  as  1867  by  a  commission  formed 
under  the  laws  of  New  York  to  investigate  the  prisons  and  reformatories  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  This  report  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  rates  paid  by 
contractors  for  convict  labor  range  from  30  to  45  cents  per  day,  and  that  the  con- 
tractors obtain  the  labor  of  3  convicts  where  they  would  get  that  of  1  citizen,  and 
yet  each  convict  performed,  on  the  average,  three-fourths  as  much  work  as  a  citi- 
zen laborer.  Putting  these  elements  together,  the  case  stands  thus:  The  labor  of 
12  convicts  will  cost  no  more  per  day  than  that  of  4  citizens;  yet  the  convicts  will 
do  9  days  work,  while  the  citizen  will  do  but  4.  Thus  every  dollar  paid  for  con- 
vict labor  will  produce  as  much  as  $2.25  expended  on  citizen  labor.  The  commis- 
sion concludes  as  follows: 

"  Is  it  possible  that  the  State  can  be  other  than  a  loser  by  a  system  which  sells 
the  labor  of  its  convicts  at  150  per  cent  less  than  the  same  labor  can  be  obtained 
elsewhere?  Upon  the  whole,  it  is  our  settled  conviction  that  the  contract  system 
of  convict  labor,  added  to  the  system  of  political  appointments,  which  necessarily 
involves  a  low  grade  of  official  qualification  and  constant  changes  in  the  prison 
staff,  renders  migratory,  to  a  great  extent,  the  whole  theory  of  our  penitentiary 
system.  Inspection  may  correct  isolated  abiises;  philanthrophy  may  relieve  iso- 
lated cases  of  distress;  and  religion  may  effect  isolated  moral  cures;  but  genuine, 
radical,  comprehensive,  systematic  improvement  is  impossible." 


32  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

The  contract  system,  as  practiced  at  the  time  of  .the  above  report,  had  many  of 
the  features  peculiar  to  the  lease  system, and  the  constant  tendency  of  legislation 
and  the  improvements  in  prison  methods  have  been  toward  removing  those  fea- 
tures and  improving  the  system,  but  the  perfect  has  never  been  attained,  and  the 
tendency  appears  to  be  to  pass  by  and  beyond  the  system  to  something  better. 
This  is  evinced  by  the  character  of  the  reports  and  legislation  in  New  York  State. 
Following  the  report  above  referred  to,  and  in  January,  1871,  the  State  commis- 
sioner on  prison  labor  of  New  York,  after  hearing  a  great  deal  of  testimony,  con 
eluded  that  the  following  propositions  were  believed  to  be  fairly  deducible  from, 
and  fully  sustained,  by  the  evidence: 

"  I.  The  contract  system  of  prison  labor  is  bad  and  should  be  abolished. 

"II.  The  industries  of  a  prison,  as  well  as  its  discipline,  ought,  ordinarily,  to 
be  managed  by  its  head. 

"III.  The  successful  management  of  the  industries  of  a  prison  requires  experi- 
ence and  business  tact;  qualities  that  can  be  acquired  only  by  long  practical 
familiarity  with  such  management. 

"IV.  It  would  not  be  wise  to  commit  the  industries  of  a  prison  to  the  manage- 
ment of  its  head  so  long  as  he  is  not  only  liable,  but  sure  to  be  displaced  on  every 
transfer  of  power  from  one  political  party  to  another. 

"V.  Considering  the  extent  of  the  industries  carried  on  in  our  State  prisons, 
and  the  frequent  changes  of  officers  therein,  the  result  of  which  is  that  inexperi- 
enced persons  are  for  the  most  part  at  their  head,  it  would  be  unwise  and  unsafe 
to  change  the  system  of  labor  while  the  system  of  government  remains  what  it  is 
at  present. 

"VI.  In  order  to  a  safe  and  successful  change  of  the  labor  system  from  con- 
tracts to  State  management,  it  will  be  an  essential  condition  precedent  that  politi- 
cal control  be  eliminated  from  the  government  of  our  State  prisons,  and  that 
their  administration  be  placed  and  kept  in  the  hands  of  honest  and  capable  men. 

"VII.  The  only  process  by  which  our  State  prisons  can  be  removed  from  the 
arena  of  politics — whereby  alone  a  safe  basis  can  be  secured  for  a  change  in  the 
labor  system — is  an  amendment  of  the  constitution;  and  to  the  attainment  of  that 
end  the  strenuous  efforts  of  all  good  citizens  should  be  directed. 

"VIII.  While  the  products  of  prison  labor  are  not  sufficient  to  sensibly  affect 
the  general  markets  of  the  country,  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  particular  localities 
these  products  do  come  into  injurious  competition  with  those  of  outside  labor ; 
and  whenever  such  competition  occurs  it  is  the  result  of  the  undue  pursuit  of 
one  or  but  a  few  branches  of  labor  in  prisons  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  a 
result  which  points  to  the  multiplication  and  equalization  of  trades  in  institutions 
of  this  class. 

"  IX.  The  opposition  of  the  workingmen  of  the  State  is  to  the  contract  system 
alone  and  not  all  to  industrial  labor  in  prisons ;  and  not  only  do  they  not  oppose 
such  labor,  but  they  desire  that  criminals  should  be  reformed  as  the  result  of 
their  imprisonment;  and  they  believe  that  this  can  be  effected  only  through 
industrial  labor  in  combination  with  other  suitable  agencies  and  as  the  result  of 
the  acquisition,  as  far  as  that  may  be  possible,  of  trades  during  their  incarcera- 
tion." 

In  January,  1884,  Charles  F.  Peck,  commissioner  of  labor  of  New  York,  in  his 
first  annual  report  to  the  legislature,  submitted  the  following  conclusions  in  regard 
to  the  unfavorable  aspects  of  the  contract  system: 

"  In  submitting  to  your  honorable  body  the  recommendations  as  to  the  future 
policy  of  prison  management  which  seem  best  adapted  to  the  moral  training  of 
the  convicts  and  attended  with  least  injury  to  existing  interests,  it  is  proper  that 
the  evils  to  be  avoided  and  which  attach  to  existing  systems  should  be  briefly 
stated. 

"  The  contract  system  as  at  present  administered  has  been  found  imperfect  tor 
the  following  reasons: 

"First.  The  object  of  the  law  is  reform  for  the  convicts.  The  object  of  the 
contractor  is  to  make  money  from  his  labor  without  regard  to  his  reform. 

"  Second.  It  is  destructive  of  prison  discipline  necessarily,  from  the  fact  that 
the  prisoners  are  for  ten  hours  a  day  under  the  control  of  the  contractor  and  his 
agents,  who  are  in  no  wise  responsible  for  their  reformation. 

"  Third.  It  renders  impossible  a  diversity  of  employment  suited  to  the  different 
capacities  of  the  prisoners  and  the  conditions  necessary  to  their  moral  training. 

"  Fourth.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  law  and  to  the  best  interests  of  society  that 


PRISON   LABOR.  33 

the  terms  of  the  best  conducted  prisoners  be  shortened.    It  is  to  the  interest  of 
the  contractor  to  keep  them  longer  in  prison. 
"Fifth.  It  makes  impossible  any  proper  classification  and  separation  of  the 

Eisoners,  bnt  places  in  daily  contact  the  comparatively  innocent  with  the  most 
rdened  and  depraved. 

"  Sixth.  The  profits  of  the  labor  of  the  convict  belong  to  the  State,  the  laws  of 
which  he  has  transgressed.  The  contract  system  gives  those  profits  to  parties 
not  representing  the  State  or  interested  or  responsible,  except  for  monetary  con- 
siderations, which  are  a  constant  menace  to  the  discipline  of  the  prison  and  the 
reformation  of  the  convict. 

"Seventh.  Manufacturers  engaged  in  similar  industries  and  employing  free 
labor  claim  to  be  injuriously  affected  in  their  business  by  the  operations  of  the 
contract  system. 

"Eighth.  The  mechanical  and  laboring  interests  are  opposed  to  the  contract 
system  on  the  ground  that  it  tends  to  loss  of  employment  and  reduction  of  wages." 

In  other  reports  of  the  State  commission  of  prisons  of  New  York  the  policy  of 
the  State  in  contracting  or  farming  out  the  labor  of  the  convicts  is  spoken  of  as 
highly  injurious  to  free  labor  in  that  the  products  of  such  labor  are  sold  in  the 
open  market  at  a  price  so  low  that,  while  the  contractors  were  thereby  enabled 
to  reap  large  profits,  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  similar 
articles  by  free  labor,  were  unable  to  compete  and  pay  the  wages  necessary  to  a 
decent  subsistence,  and  that  under  the  contract  system  the  labor  of  convicts  was 
farmed  out  for  such  small  prices  that  the  State,  in  effect,  got  nothing;  while  the 
contractors  were  enabled  to  undersell  other  manufacturers,  and  thus  decrease  the 
wages  of  free  labor,  and  in  some  instances  destroy  industries  that  were  valuable 
for  the  general  welfare. 

"  Comparatively  few  of  the  concerns  engaged  in  any  industry  are  in  a  position 
to  compete  for  the  contract  for  prison  labor  and,  therefore,  it  is  sold  out  at 
extremely  low  rates.  For  example,  at  Auburn  Prison,  the  contract  for  the  labor 
in  making  women's  calico  and  gingham  dresses  and  wrappers  was  at  the  rate  of 
50  cents  per  dozen,  30  cents  per  dozen  for  waists  and  skirts,  and  at  like  rates  for 
the  labor  in  manufacturing  many  other  articles.  At  the  State  Reformatory  at 
Elmira  are  contracts  for  the  making  of  heavy  overcoats  at  40  cents  each,  and 
umbrellas  at  4  cents  each.  At  Sing  Sing  are  contracts  for  making  shoes  at  6^  and  7 
cents  per  pair,  and  at  the  Albany  Penitentiary  shirts  were  made  on  contract  for  30 
cents  per  dozen.  Like  low  rates  for  labor  prevail  at  the  other  prisons  and  peniten- 
tiaries. How  much  this  cheap  labor  may  tend  to  cause  the  abuses  produced  by 
the  so-called  "sweat  shops  "  in  the  great  cities,  where  manufacturers  seek  to  com- 
pete with  the  manufacture  of  prison  contractors  suggests  itself.  At  Backwells 
Island  the  labor  was  largely  farmed  out  or  contracted  out  to  various  firms  and 
companies  whose  product  was  thus  brought  in  competition  in  the  market  with  the 
product  of  other  manufacturers  using  free  labor  only.  In  order  to  meet  the  com- 
petition the  latter  were  forced  to  cut  down  their  prices  below  cost,  or  largely 
reduce  the  wages  of  their  employees,  or,  as  in  some  instances,  discontinue  that 
branch  of  industry.  The  average  earnings,  per  diem,  of  convicts  so  contracted 
out  was  from  12  to  35  cents  per  day;  but  as  the  State  furnishes  and  keeps  in  repair 
the  buildings  where  this  f  armed-out  labor  was  done,  and  in  most  of  the  industries 
owned  and  kept  in  repair  the  machinery  used  in  connection  with  the  labor,  the 
real  earnings  to  the  State  above  expenses  are  much  less." 

By  a  provision  of  the  constitution  of  the  State,  and,  by  laws  that  went  into 
effect  January  1, 1897,  the  contract  system  of  employing  convicts  was  abolished 
in  New  York,  and  the  State  commission  of  prisons  in  commenting  on  the  fact  in 
the  annual  report  for  1898,  states  as  follows: 

"  The  old  system  of  contracting  out  the  labor  of  convicts  to  the  highest  bidder, 
which  was  a  species  of  slavery,  passed  away  when  the  prison  labor  provision  of 
the  constitution  and  of  the  law  went  into  effect  January  1,  1897,  and  is  already 
being  looked  upon  as  a  relic  of  barbarism  that  the  State  did  well  in  superseding 
by  a  more  enlightened  and  practical  system.  But  few  manufacturers  were  sit- 
uated so  as  to  compete  in  the  bidding.  Those  with  large  plants,  permanent  loca- 
tions, and  many  employees  could  not  do  so.  The  contracts  therefore,  were  taken 
by  those  who  were  less  firmly  located  and  more  adapted  to  speculative  ventures, 
for  a  mere  pittance  which  gave  the  State  very  little  income  after  paying  the  addi- 
tional expense  caused,  and  the  repairs  of  the  buildings  and  machinery  it  furnished, 

250A — VOL  in 3 


34  UNITED   STATES   INDUSTRIAL   COMMISSION. 

The  presence  of  contractors  and  foremen,  not  officers,  was  not  helpful  to  discipline. 
The  contractors  were  able  to  make  the  price  of  articles  manufactured  so  low  as 
to  cripple  the  business  of  the  manufacturers  producing  similar  goods  by  free  labor, 
or  to  lessen  the  wages  of  their  employees.  When  we  consider  the  fact  that  under 
the  contract  system  shoes  were  being  made  in  the  prisons  for  6  and  7  cents  a  pair, 
laundered  shirts  for  30  cents  a  dozen,  trousers  for  75  cents  per  dozen  pairs,  ulster 
overcoats  for  40  cents  each,  and  umbrellas  for  4  cents,  while  large  manufactures 
of  brass  and  of  iron  and  of  furniture  were  also  carried  on  at  similar  insignifi- 
cant prices,  the  result  no  longer  seems  strange.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  industries 
of  free  labor  languished,  and  the  manufacturers  and  laborers  were  joining  in 
annual  appeals  to  the  legislature  to  relieve  them  from  a  ruinous  and  unfair  com- 
petition, by  forbidding  the  manufacture  of  various  classes  of  goods  in  the  prisons. 
The  State  was  not  getting  a  fair  value  for  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  it  was  com- 
pelled to  support,  and  the  manufacturers  and  their  employees  were  suffering  by 
the  unfair  competition  of  the  labor  sold  out  to  the  contractors,  who  made  the 
profit  without  fear  of  strikes  or  the  chance  of  loss. 

"Another  abuse  which  developed  under  the  contract  system  as  it  was  prac- 
ticed in  New  York  was  the  passage  of  laws  permitting  penitentiaries  to  contract 
with  other  counties  than  those  in  which  they  were  located  for  the  care  of  those 
convicted  of  misdemeanors  in  such  counties,  and  permitting  the  magistrates  to 
sentence  to  such  penitentiaries,  instead  of  to  the  jails  of  their  own  counties.  The 
penitentiaries  were  paid  at  the  rate  of  $2  or  more  a  week  for  each  prisoner,  and 
also  had  the  labor  of  the  convicts  they  received.  The  actual  cost  of  the  board 
was  about  half  the  amount  received,  so  that  a  good  profit  resulted  from  the  enter- 
prise. This  was  the  first  step  in  turning  the  penitentiaries  into  boarding  houses. 
Later,  laws  were  procured  in  the  interests  of  the  penitentiaries,  permitting  courts 
of  the  State  to  sentence  for  terms  of  five  years,  or  less,  to  the  penitentiaries  those 
convicted  of  felonies.  The  State  thus  transferred  to  the  penitentiaries  the  labor 
of  the  felons  sentenced  for  five  years  or  less,  and  it  had  to  pay  to  the  penitentia- 
ries $2.10  for  the  board  of  each,  though  there  was  ample  room  for  all  felons  in  the 
State  prisons  which  the  State  was  maintaining,  and  where  it  could  keep  prisoners 
at  about  half  the  price  paid.  But  an  even  greater  objection  was,  that  such  a  law 
broke  down  the  separation  between  misdemeanants  and  felons,  putting  those 
guilty  of  the  greater  crimes  in  association  with  those  who,  were,  perhaps,  more 
unfortunate  than  criminal. 

"Finally,  laws  were  enacted  in  the  interests  of  the  penitentiaries,  permitting 
them  to  contract  for  the  care  and  custody  of  convicts  of  other  States,  without 
regard  to  the  length  of  sentence.  At  the  end  of  their  term  this  class  of  convicts 
was  discharged  at  the  penitentiary  door,  and  the  State  of  New  York,  and  its  peni- 
tentiary towns  in  particular,  made  a  dumping  ground  for  criminals  of  other 
States  and  Territories." 

In  1895,  the  State  commission  of  prisons  found  about  900  convicts  from  other 
States,  some  under  sentence  for  life  or  long  terms  of  forty  years  or  more,  in  asso- 
ciation with  misdemeanants,  in  the  penitentiaries. 

While  the  contract  system,  as  it  is  now  conducted,  is  radically  different  from 
that  under  which  convicts  were  employed  in  1887,  still  the  following  quotation 
from  the  reports  of  legislative  committees  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  made  dur- 
ing that  year,  indicate  the  adverse  feeling  that  prevailed  in  those  States  against 
the  system  at  that  time. 

The  committee  in  Ohio,  after  taking  the  testimony  of  many  witnesses  and  duly 
considering  the  questions  submitted  to  it,  arrived  at  the  following  conclusions: 

"  The  contract  system  interferes  in  an  undue  manner  with  the  honest  industry 
of  the  State.  It  has  been  the  cause  of  crippling  the  business  of  many  of  our  man- 
ufacturers; it  has  been  the  cause  of  driving  many  of  them  out  of  business;  it  has 
been  the  cause  of  a  large  percentage  of  the  reductions  which  have  taken  place  in 
the  wages  of  our  mechanics;  it  has  been  the  cause  of  pauperizing  a  large  portion 
of  our  laborers  and  increasing  crime  in  a  corresponding  degree;  it  has  been  no 
benefit  to  the  State;  as  a  reformatory  agency  it  has  been  a  complete,  total,  and 
miserable  failure;  it  has  hardened  more  criminals  than  any  other  cause;  it  has 
made  total  wrecks,  morally,  of  thousands  and  thousands  who  would  have  been 
reclaimed  from  the  paths  of  vice  and  crime  under  a  proper  system  of  prison  man- 
agement, but  who  now  have  resigned  their  fate  to  a  life  of  hopeless  degradation; 
it  has  not  a  single  commendable  feature;  its  tendency  is  pernicious  in  the  extreme. 
In  short,  it  is  an  insurmountable  barrier  in  the  way  of  the  reformation  of  the 
unfortunates  who  are  compelled  to  live  and  labor  under  its  evil  influences;  it 


PRISON   LABOR.  35 

enables  a  class  of  men  to  get  rich  out  of  the  crimes  committed  by  others;  it  leaves 
upon  the  fair  escutcheon  of  the  State  a  relic  of  the  very  worse  form  of  hitman 
slavery;  it  is  a  bone  of  ceaseless  contention  between  the  State  and  its  mechanical 
and  industrial  interests;  it  its  abhorred  by  all  and  respected  by  none  except  those, 
perhaps,  who  make  profit  and  gain  out  of  it.  It  should  be  tolerated  DO  longer, 
but  abolished  at  once." 

The  committee  in  Pennsylvania  reported  in  substance,  as  follows: 

"  On  a  full  examination,  a  very  large  field  for  careful  investigation,  taking  the 
principle  involved  in  the  first  and  second  questions,  which  raises  the  inquiry  as 
to  the  influence  exerted  or  the  effects  produced  by  the  labor  of  convicts  in 
prisons,  contracted  for  or  sold  to  the  best  bidder,  and  the  product  of  such  labor 
brought  into  competition  in  the  market  with  the  product  of  industries  of  indi- 
vidual voluntary  labor,  '  or  the  interests  of  free  labor,'  and  '  the  manufacturing 
interests  of  the  Commonwealth.'  Your  committee  is  of  opinion  that  the  princi- 
ple is  injurious  to  the  '  interests  of  free  labor.' 

"  The  contractor  of  prison  labor  has  many  advantages  which  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  estimate  in  money  when  the  matter  of  profits  is  considered.  Among 
them  are  to  be  estimated,  no  rent  for  buildings,  no  insurance,  no  cost  for  storage, 
and  the  want  of  all  competition  in  the  price  paid  for  convict  labor,  either  by  the 
day  or  other  fixed  period,  and  the  compulsion  under  which  the  convict  toils,  the 
time  saved  by  his  location  near  his  work,  and  the  supervision  of  the  convict  in 
performing  his  taskwork.  It  is  true  much  depends  on  the  trade  carried  on  and 
the  agreement  made  between  the  institution  and  the  contractor.  There  is  no 
do  -bt  that  very  large  profits  are  made  by  contractors,  or  some  of  them,  and  it  is 
equally  true  that  very  large  losses  are  made  by  the  State  in  many  cases." 

The  contract  system  is  now  practiced  in  the  State  of  Michigan  in  conjunction 
with  the  State-account  system,  and  is  spoken  favorably  by  the  prison  authorities 
who  contend  that  as  good  results,  in  every  respect,  are  secured  by  its  use  as  by 
any  other  system.  Nevertheless  in  1884  when  the  agitation  of  the  question  of 
the  employment  of  convicts  was  severe,  the  commissioner  of  labor  of  the  State, 
in  a  report  upon  penal  institutions,  stated  that  the  contract  system  should  be 
abolished,  because — 

"  First.  The  contractor  has  no  interest  in  the  prisoner,  except  in  his  ability  to 
produce.  The  prisoner  is  the  ward  of  the  State.  His  employment  is  a  means, 
not  an  end,  and  no  contractor  with  arbitrary  rules  as  to  time,  etc.,  should  come 
between  the  prisoner  and  the  State.  The  incentive  to  labor  should  be  shortened 
terms,  care  for  dependents,  and  payment  of  a  stipend  when  discharged. 

"  These  men  are  required  to  work  an  average  of  10  hours  per  day  for  the  year, 
Si  hours  in  midwinter,  and  11|  hours  in  midsummer,  and  they  work  diligently. 
They  have  not  the  relief  incident  to  outdoor  labor — no  rainy  days — all  their  time 
is  employed,  except  nights  and  Sundays.  Is  it  not  idle  to  expect  reformatory  or 
educational  influences  to  be  exerted,  except  those  incident  to  industry,  or  to 
operate  upon  men  who  work  10  hours  per  day?  The  inmates  are  tired,  the 
keepers  have  been  with  the  men  all  day,  and  the  warden  or  superintendent  has 
been  engrossed  with  the  management  of  the  financial  and  commercial  trans- 
actions of  the  prison. 

"Second.  The  sale  of  the  product  should  be  regulated  by  the  State. 

"Third.  If  there  is  any  profit  in  his  employment  it  should  not  go  to  the  con- 
tractor. If  the  contract  system  is  retained  the  State  should  own  the  plant  and 
machinery  as  well  as  the  shops,  and  thus  open  a  wider  field  for  competition." 

The  subject  of  contracting  convict  labor  is  treated  in  the  first  annual  report  of 
the  bureau  of  labor  of  Kansas,  in  which  the  objectionable  competitive  feature  of 
the  system  is  spoken  of  as  follows  : 

"With  the  rapid  multiplication  of  machinery,  a  much  less  degree  of  skill  is 
required  in  many  branches  of  industry,  and  the  skilled  mechanic,  who  may  have 
spent  years  in  the  mastery  of  the  details  of  his  calling,  suddenly  finds  himself  at 
a  disadvantage,  even  when  confronted  with  the  competition  of  free  labor;  but 
when  to  this  is  added  a  mass  of  labor,  fed,  housed  and  clothed  by  the  State  and 
hired  en  masse  for  a  mere  pittance,  to  compete  with  him  for  the  means  of  liveli- 
hood, it  makes  his  lot  hard  indeed.  He  feels  it  is  an  act  of  injustice  on  the  part 
of  the  State;  and  he  finally  comes  to  regard  the  farming  out  of  convict  labor  as  a 
blow  aimed  directly  at  the  class  he  represents." 

The  direct  and  severe  competition  with  free  labor  and  industry  that  is  possible 


36 


UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 


by  the  concentration  of  a  large  number  of  convicts  on  any  one  industry  under  the 
contract  system,  is  conclusively  shown  by  the  testimony  presented  in  the  fourth 
biennial  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  Illinois.  While  the  laws  and 
rules  regulating  the  employment  of  convicts  under  the  contract  system,  as  now 
carried  on,  may  have  been  modified  since  this  report  was  prepared,  still  the  testi- 
mony is  so  conclusive  and  direct  on  this  point  that  it  is  here  given  in  full. 

"One  of  the  oldest,  largest,  and  most  prosperous  shops  in  the  Joliet  Penitentiary 
is  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of  cooperage,  chiefly  for  the  packing  of  meats  and 
lard,  and  chiefly  for  the  Chicago  market.  The  firm  engaged  in  this  business  has 
had  contracts  for  convicts  at  Joliet  for  many  years,  and  now  employs  there  in  all 
204  men.  In  addition  to  this  establishment  the  same  firm  has  contracts  and 
cooper  shops  in  the  northern  penitentiary  of  Indiana  at  Michigan  City,  where 
they  employ  169  men.  The  product  of  these  two  shops  flows  for  the  most  part  to 
the  Chicago  market,  though  some  portion  of  it  reaches  the  neighboring  cities — 
Milwaukee,  Indianapolis,  St.  Louis,  and  even  Kansas  City. 

"  Through  the  courtesy  of  this  firm  this  bureau  is  placed  in  possession  of  a 
statement  of  the  amount  of  their  business  in  Chicago  for  a  term  of  11  years — 
1875-1885,  both  inclusive.  This  shows  the  number  of  each  of  four  kinds  of  pack- 
ages manufactured  and  sold  in  Chicago  for  each  year,  as  follows: 


Years. 

Pork. 

Lard. 

Lard. 

Beef. 

Total. 

1875  .. 

Barrels. 
107,320 

Tierces. 
90,227 

Kegs. 

8,752 

Tierces. 
1,167 

207,466 

1876                                   

116,236 

89,552 

6,956 

1,393 

214,  137 

1877            

119,  213 

86,881 

5,976 

1,249 

213,319 

1878 

127  046 

107,  416 

9,246 

1,592 

245,300 

1879                                 

213,  595 

188,320 

7,120 

1,909 

410,944 

1880                   

297,367 

257,567 

12,560 

2,706 

570,200 

1881  .. 

301,034 

259,648 

6,144 

8,944 

575,  770 

1882                                              

304,138 

294,088 

3,310 

10,219 

611,755 

1883  --. 

316,  751 

312,099 

5,387 

16,311 

650,548 

1884                                        

363,255 

293,655 

3,917 

19,160 

679,987 

1885  

379,312 

342,159 

2,311 

21,479 

745,261 

Total  

2,645,267 

2,321,612 

71,679 

86,129 

5,124,687 

"  This  shows  a  total  of  5,124,687  packages  sold  in  Chicago  in  11  years  and  745,261 
sold  last  year. 

"In  order  to  arrive  at  some  facts  upon  which  to  institute  a  comparison  an 
inquiry  has  also  been  made  as  to  the  status,  past  and  present,  of  the  manufacture 
of  cooperage  by  private  parties  in  Chicago.  A  canvass  has  accordingly  been 
made  among  the  principal  shops,  and  so  far  as  possible  exact  figures  for  a  corre- 
sponding number  of  years  have  been  procured  from  the  books  of  the  various 
firms  visited.  The  records  of  26  establishments  variously  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  both  so-called  '  tight '  and  '  slack'  work  were  thus  obtained.  Of  these, 
however,  15  only  are  and  have  been  for  a  series  of  years  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  provision  cooperage  of  the  specific  kinds  turned  out  by  the  prison  shops, 
and  upon  their  statements  the  following  summaries  are  made : 

"  First,  a  tabulation  of  their  annual  output  for  a  series  of  years  gives  the  fol- 
lowing results: 


Year. 

Pork 
barrels. 

Lard 

tierces. 

Lard 

kegs. 

Beef 

tierces. 

Total. 

1875               

31,000 

86,045 

2,600 

819 

120,464 

1876                   

36,870 

86  891 

2,600 

1,700 

128,061 

1877 

39,200 

95,600 

2,600 

6,324 

143,724 

1878 

32,530 

98,900 

800 

5,591 

137,821 

1879    

49,010 

133,130 

700 

5,400 

188,240 

1880                              .               

42,741 

121,  780 

700 

4,900 

170,  121 

1881      

36,160 

121,253 

700 

4,600 

162,713 

1882                              .        .                              

32,650 

133,005 

600 

4,000 

170,255 

1883 

35,900 

122,400 

600 

158,900 

1884 

26,750 

120,735 

400 

147,885 

1885 

34,600 

122,562 

400 

157,562 

Total                   

397,411 

1,242,301 

12,700 

33,334 

1,685,746 

PRISON   LABOR. 


37 


"  Here  are  1,685,746  packages  given  as  the  aggregate  product  of  fifteen  cooper 
shops  in  Chicago  for  a  period  of  11  years;  and  157,562  as  the  total  product 
for  1885. 

"  The  census  returns  for  1880  show  that  the  total  number  of  cooper  shops  in 
Chicago  at  that  date  was  65,  and  that  the  number  of  coopers  employed  in  them 
was  686.  In  the  spring  of  1885,  however,  an  enumeration  was  made  by  the 
Coopers'  Assembly  of  Chicago,  which  developed  the  fact  that  16  establishments 
had  closed  out  their  business  since  1880,  and  that  they  had  given  employment  to 
235  men.  This  would  leave  as  the  present  force  451  men  engaged  in  49  shops, 
provided  the  discharged  men  did  not  obtain  work  in  the  surviving  shops.  A 
more  recent  canvass  by  this  bureau,  however,  has  developed  a  total  of  56  shops 
of  every  kind,  employing  from  two  men  upward,  and  an  average  of  twelve 
employees  to  each,  which  would  give  672  as  the  total  of  working  coopers  in  the 
busy  season,  which  is  from  November  to  April. 

"Accepting  then  56  shops  and  672  men  as  a  fair  approximation  to  the  present 
totals  in  this  industry,  the  question  is  what  proportion  of  them  are  engaged  in  mak- 
ing the  four  specific  packages  used  in  the  meat-packing  trade.  Of  the  26  returns 
received,  15,  or  60  per  cent.,  are  so  engaged;  while  an  estimate  by  our  canvasser 
is  that  not  more  than  40  per  cent,  are  so  engaged.  Assuming  that  60  per  cent  is 
the  proper  proportion,  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  34  shops  employing  403 
men  are  the  surviving  competitors  in  Chicago  of  the  prison  shops.  Of  these  we 
have  the  records  of  15,  employing  182  men,  and  producing  last  year  157,562  pro- 
vision packages.  This  would  make  the  entire  product  of  34  private  cooperage 
establishments  in  Chicago,  employing  403  men  on  provision  work,  354,517  pack- 
ages. Upon  this  basis  the  following  comparative  table  is  presented  of  the  rela- 
tive product  of  prison  and  private  shops,  showing  the  columns  in  juxtaposition 
in  order  to  bring  out  the  contrast  between  them: 


Years. 

Number  of  packages. 

Made  in 
prison 
shops. 

Made  in  15 
private 
shops. 

Estimated 
total  prod- 
uct of  all 
private 
shops  in. 
Chicago. 

1875... 

207,466 
214,  137 
213,319 
245,300 
410,944 
570,200 
575,  770 
611,755 
650,548 
679,987 
745,261 

120,464 
128,061 
143,724 
137,821 
188,240 
170,  121 
162,713 
170,255 
158,900 
147,885 
157,562 

271,044 
288,137 
323,379 
310,097 
423,540 
382,773 
366,054 
383,074 
357,525 
332,792 
354,515 

1876...  . 

1877.. 

1878 

1879. 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1883.. 

1884.... 

1885..  

*        Total                                                                        

5,124,687 

1,685,746 

3,792,930 

"  Last  year's  product  of  the  prison  shops  was  745,261  packages,  while  that  of  all 

Erivate  shops,  upon  a  liberal  and  legitimate  basis  of  computation,  was  354,515. 
Q  other  words,  out  of  a  total  sale  and  consumption  of  1,099,776  packages  in  Chi- 
cago, 67.8  per  cent  was  manufactured  in  prisons. 

"Another  marked  feature  of  this  table  is  the  great  and  continued  growth  of  the 
prison  industry  throughout  the  period  under  consideration.  This  is  not  more 
noticeable,  however,  than  the  entire  absence  of  any  material  increase  for  the  same 
series  of  years  in  the  development  of  the  industry  outside  the  prison  walls.  In 
brief,  the  contractors'  business  has  increased  in  volume  360  per  cent  during  the 
11  years,  while  the  increase  in  private  establishments  was  only  31  per  cent  in  the 
same  time.  The  present  output  shows  a  regular  progressive  growth  from  year 
to  year  for  the  whole  period;  but  the  private  shops  feebly  fluctuate  in  volume  of 
product  throughout  the  term,  and  at  the  end  are  practically  no  stronger  than  at 
the  beginning. 

"The  manufacture  of  cooperage,  stimulated  as  it  has  been  by  the  enormous 
meat-packing  trade  in  Chicago,  should  have  itself  increased  four  or  five  fold 
during  the  last  decade,  and  would  have  done  so  beyond  a  doubt  if  such  opportu- 
nities for  free  development  had  been  open  as  were  enjoyed  by  other  branches  of 
manufacture.  Instead  of  that  it  is  now  a  feebler  industry  relatively  than  it  was 


296317 


38 


UNITED   STATES   INDUSTRIAL   COMMISSION. 


11  years  ago,  and  instead  of  enjoying  the  healthy  and  prosperoiis  growth  for 
which  a  notable  opportunity  was  presented,  it  has  barely  maintained  its  exist- 
ence by  a  constant  and  unequal  struggle. 

"  But  the  proprietor  has  not  been  the  only  nor  the  greater  sufferer  in  this 
struggle.  Under  the  natural  and  inevitable  operation  of  the  contract  system, 
prices  have  continually  declined,  and  the  citizen,  in  his  fruitless  effort  to  compete 
with  the  contractor,  has  visited  every  reduction  in  price  upon  the  journeyman 
cooper  in  the  form  of  a  reduction  in  wages.  The  consequence  has  been,  as  is  fre- 
quently stated,  that  Chicago  coopers  have  often  been  able  to  earn  more  upon  the 
streets  at  any  kind  of  unskilled  labor  than  at  the  trade  they  have  spent  years  to 
acquire. 

"  Some  facts  in  regard  to  the  average  annual  earnings  of  coopers  for  the  term  of 
years  under  consideration  have  been  procured  from  the  books  of  employers  who 
have  been  continually  in  business  for  11  or  more  years.  From  nine  of  these  we 
have  been  able  to  obtain  an  average  of  the  yearly  payments  made  to  their  opera- 
tives for  each  of  11  years,  and  the  results  of  the  inquiry  as  towages  are  presented 
in  the  following  tabulation  of  averages: 


Years. 

Average  annual  earnings  of  provision  coopers  in  Chicago  for  eleven 
consecutive  years,  in  nine  establishments. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

1875... 

$624.00 
624.00 
593.00 
572.00 
572.00 
525.00 
519.00 
515.00 
513.00 
48M.  00 
469.00 

$700.00 
700.00 
675.00 
675.00 
675.00 
640.00 
490.00 
490.00 
460.00 
400.00 
400.00 

$643.00 
624.00 
607.00 
604.00 
579.  M 
572.00 
572.00 
564.00 
54ti.m 
473.00 
468.00 

$640.00 
625.00 
600.00 
590.00 
590.00 
575.  00 
575.00 
575.00 
575.00 
540.00 
500.00 

$625.00 
600.00 
600.00 
541  UK) 
500.00 
500.00 
500.00 
450.00 
450.00 
420.00 
395.00 

$690.00 
689.00 
680.00 
670.00 
680.00 
600.00 
560.00 
550.00 
400.00 
4OXOO 
400.00 

$650.00 
624.00 
598.00 
598.00 
603.00 
572.00 
572.00 
572.00 
546.00 
481.00 
467.00 

$634.00 
591.00 
540.00 
500.00 
482.00 
475.00 
475.00 
462.00 
450.00 
400.00 
400.00 

$511.00 
501.00 
500.00 
450.00 
450.00 
450.00 
441.00 
411.00 
410.00 
400.00 
390.00 

1876  . 

1877... 

1878 

1879... 

1880  , 

1881... 

1883.... 

1883  

1884... 

1885  

Decline  

25% 

43% 

27% 

22% 

37% 

42% 

28% 

37% 

24% 

"  These  9  establishments  are  selected  from  the  whole  number  reporting  wages 
because  the  data  in  these  instances  are  full  for  the  11  years  in  each  case,  making 
a  complete  serial  table  for  the  term.  The  returns  from  other  shops  are  more  or 
less  fragmentary,  although  the  downward  tendency  is  equally  marked  in  every 
case. 

"  The  decline  is  seen  to  be  painfully  uniform  from  year  to  year  in  every  estab- 
ment,  the  percentage  of  reduction  varying  in  different  shops  from  22  to  43  per 
cent.  Another  arrangement  of  the  figures  will  give  the  annual  average  for  the 
same  shops,  by  years,  and  the  general  average  for  the  term: 


Establishments. 


Annual  average  of  earnings  in  nine  establishments  for  each  of 
eleven  years. 


1875. 

1876. 

1877. 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1  .. 

$624 

S«24 

$593 

$572 

$.->::.> 

$525 

$519 

$515 

$513 

S4S8 

j-k)9 

2  ... 

700 

700 

675 

675 

675 

640 

490 

490 

460 

400 

400 

3  

643 

624 

607 

604 

579 

572 

572 

564 

546 

•173 

468 

4  .. 

640 

625 

600 

590 

590 

575 

575 

575 

575 

540 

500 

5.... 

625 

600 

600 

540 

500 

500 

500 

450 

450 

420 

395 

6  

690 

689 

680 

670 

680 

600 

560 

550 

400 

400 

400 

7.. 

650 

624 

598 

598 

603 

572 

572 

572 

546 

481 

467 

8  ... 

634 

591 

540 

600 

482 

475 

475 

462 

450 

400 

400 

9  

511 

501 

500 

450 

450 

450 

441 

411 

410 

400 

390 

Average  .  .      

613 

611 

599 

577 

570 

545 

523 

510 

481 

445 

432 

"  This  shows  that  a  general  reduction  has  taken  place  in  the  earnings  of  coopers 
in  the  provision  cooperage  shops  of  Chicago  from  §613  per  annum  in  1875  to  $432 
per  annum  in  1885,  or  an  average  decline  of  30  per  cent.  Some  part  of  this  may 
certainly  be  due  to  other  causes  than  the  competition  arising  from  the  prison  shops, 
but  the  uniform  belief  among  those  interested  is  that  the  greater  part  of  it  is 
directly  chargeable  to  that  influence.  As  confirmatory  of  their  statements  we 


PRISON   LABOR. 


39 


cite  from  the  pay  rolls  of  three  shops  in  which  beer  barrels  alone  are  made  the 
average  earnings  paid  that  class  of  coopers  for  a  number  of  years  past: 


Years. 

Average  annual  earn- 
ings of  beer-barrel 
coopers  in  3  shops 
for  a  series  of  years. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

1876... 

$683 
675 
670 
662 
647 
650 
650 
620 
624 
622 

1877  

1878.  

1879  

$660 
651 
645 
640 
640 
626 
626 

1880.  

1881  

1882  

$675 
650 
625 
623 

1883  

1884  

1885  

Percentage  of  decline  

8.9 

5.2 

7.7 

"Here  the  decline  is  not  greater  than  might  be  expected  from  general  causes, 
ranging  from  5  to  9  per  cent. 

'  'Presented  in  averages  by  years  the  earnings  of  this  class  of  coopers,  not  affected 
by  convict  labor,  appears  as  follows : 


Establishments. 

Earnings  of  beer-barrel  makers  in  Chicago  for  a  series  of 
years. 

1876. 

1877. 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1-. 

$682 

$675 

$670 

$662 
660 

$647 
651 

$650 
645 

$650 
640 
675 

$620 
640 
650 

$624 
626 
625 

$622 
626 
623 

2                           

3  

Average  

682 

675 

670 

661 

649 

647 

655 

636 

625 

623 

' '  Thus  at  the  present  date  the  earnings  of  coopers  not  injured  by  prison  compe- 
tition is  found  to  be  $623  per  annum,  while  the  earnings  of  those  who  are  is  only 
$432,  though  10  years  ago  they  were  substantially  the  same.  But  another  line  of 
inquiry  has  brought  out  some  facts  as  to  the  earnings  of  provision  coopers  in 
other  cities  where  the  influence  of  the  prison  manufacturers  is  not  felt,  or  only 
felt  in  small  degree.  Among  the  latter  places  are  Milwaukee,  Indianapolis,  St. 
Louis,  and  Kansas  City,  and  of  the  former  Louisville,  Denver,  and  Eastern  cities 
are  examples.  From  each  has  been  obtained  the  ruling  price  paid  for  making 
pork  barrels,  and  an  average  week's  work  is  considered  30  barrels;  thus  the  table 
presents  the  prices  paid  and  the  possible  earnings  at  different  points: 


Locality. 

Price  per 
piece  paid 
for  mak- 
ing pork 
barrel^  or 
lard 
tierces. 

Average 
weekly 
earnings 
of 
coopers. 

$0.25 

$7.50 

Milwaukee                                                   -         .  -  .  

.30 

9.00 

.30 

9.00 

.30 

9.00 

Indianapolis                                                                 •-- 

.33* 

10.00 

.35 

10.50 

.35 

10.50 

Buffalo                                                                                   

.40 

12.00 

.40 

12.00 

.40 

12.00 

"  No  comment  can  add  to  the  suggestiveness  of  these  figures,  and  it  only  remains 
to  refer  to  the  movement  in  prices  in  the  Chicago  market  since  the  establishment 
of  the  penitentiary  shops  to  complete  the  outline  of  the  case  against  convict  labor 
in  cooperage. 


40 


UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 


"The  following  tables  of  prices  for  barrels  of  the  specified  kinds, for  a  series  of 
years,  is  compiled  from  data  furnished  by  manufacturers  who  have  been  in  the 
market  for  the  period  named: 


Years. 

Market  prices  for  eleven  years  for— 

Pork 
barrels. 

Lard 
tierces. 

Lard 
kegs. 

Beef 

tierces. 

1875... 

$1.80 
1.54 
1.31 
1.30 
1.26 
1.25 
1.25 
1.21 
1.19 
1.18 
1.15 

$1.55 
1.50 
1.40 
1.38 
1.34 
1.30 
1.30 
1.26 
1.25 
1.22 
1.20 

$1.10 
.97 
.85 
.80 
.75 
.72 
.72 
.67 
.65 
.65 
.60 

$2.00 
1.88 
1.80 
1.72 
1.65 
1.52 
1.52 
1.48 
1.45 
1.45 
1.40 

1876... 

1877  .  . 

1878... 

1879 

1880. 

1881  

1882 

1883.  . 

1884  

1885  

Percentage  of  decline  

36 

23 

46 

30 

"  The  noticeable  feature  in  this  table  of  prices  is  the  correspondence  between 
the  decline  in  prices  and  the  reduction  in  wages.  This  shows  a  varying  percentage 
of  decline  in  the  different  kinds  of  packages  eqtiivalent  to  an  average  falling  off  of 
33.7  per  cent,  while  the  computed  reduction  of  wages  for  the  same  period  was  30 
per  cent.  Meanwhile  the  demand  for  this  class  of  goods  has  increased,  as  shown 
by  a  former  table,  from  a  total  consumption  in  1875  of  478, 510  packages  to  1,099,776 
packages  in  1885. 

"  It  is  unnecessary  to  emarge  upon  the  significance  of  these  facts  and  figures  in 
regard  to  cooperage." 

The  above  facts  are  commented  on  in  the  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  as  follows: 

"  The  simple  fact  that  67.8  per  cent  of  the  provision  cooperage  used  in  Chicago 
is  manufactured  in  prisons,  by  contractors  who  pay  no  rent,  no  insurance  on  build- 
ings, and  no  taxes  on  realty,  and  hire  men  at  from  45  to  62f  cents  a  day,  renders 
every  other  fact  here  shown  as  to  the  decline  of  the  business  in  Chicago,  the  fall- 
ing off  in  the  market  price,  the  reduction  in  wages,  and  the  consequent  reduction  of 
skilled  coopers  to  the  rank  of  day  laborers  inevitable  without  other  demonstration. 

' '  If  the  competition  is  severe  in  any  industry  and  in  any  locality  the  contract 
system  is,  in  so  far,  condemned.  The  material  competition  is  aggravated  by  the 
moral  aspect  of  the  case.  Workingmen  feel  aggrieved  that  contractors  should  be 
able  to  employ  labor  at  a  few  cents  per  day,  ranging  perhaps  from  20  to  60  cents 
for  long-term  men,  and  that  the  contractor,  as  an  individual,  should  have  the 
advantage,  under  the  patronage  of  the  State,  of  securing  gains  to  himself.  They 
feel  that  it  is  an  affront  to  them,  not  only  as  wage  receivers,  but  as  contributors 
to  the  general  wealth  through  their  producing  capacity.  All  manufacturers  not 
identified  with  prison  contracts  feel  aggrieved  that  the  State  should  offer  indi- 
vidual advantages  which  they  themselves  can  not  secure  by  any  industrial  com- 
petition, and  while  it  is  true,  as  conclusively  shown,  that  as  a  whole  the  convict 
is  not  equal  in  efficiency  to  the  free  laborer,  yet  it  is  also  conclusively  shown  that 
this  inequality  is  more  than  made  up  by  the  other  advantages  secured  by  the  con- 
tractor. Penologists  take  the  ground  that  it  is  a  disadvantage  so  far  as  regards 
reformatory  efforts.  They  demand  that  all  the  operations  of  a  prison,  whether 
administrative  or  manufacturing,  should  be  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  State's 
own  appointed  officers,  and  they  point  to  many  circumstances  which  serve  to 
confirm  this  position. 

The  State  assumes  control  of  the  convict,  and  it  is  not  just  to  the  convict  or 
fair  to  the  community  that  any  part  of  the  responsibility  should  be  shared  with 
an  irresponsible  contractor,  or  any  individual,  who  is  not  connected  with  the 
State  government.  It  is  claimed  by  the  opponents  of  the  system  that  under  it 
the  State,  in  fact,  goes  into  partnership  in  an  industrial  enterprise,  in  which  it 
seeks  for  good  financial  results  and  shirks  its  responsibility.  The  prison  ceases 
to  be  an  institution  supported  by  the  State  for  the  betterment  and  protection  of 
its  citizens.  The  contractor's  only  desire  is  to  fill  his  coffers,  and  while  the  rules 


PRISON   LABOR.  41 

of  the  prison,  laws,  and  conditions  of  the  contract  indicate  that  the  true  features  of 
prison  discipline  are  guarded,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  copartnership  arrange- 
ment they  can  not  be.  The  contractor  must  be  consulted  in  all  arrangements 
affecting  the  work  of  the  convict,  and  he  in  time  will,  to  a  large  extent,  control 
the  institution. 

It  is  asserted  by  people  who  have  charge  of  prisoners  that  under  the  contract 
system  they  have  been  able  to  get  more  remuneration  for  the  labor  of  the  prison- 
ers; why  that  should  be  so  has  never  been  clearly  explained,  except  in  a  very 
unsatisfactory  manner,  viz,  that  it  is  owing  to  the  lack  of  capacity  of  the  people 
who  have  charge  of  the  prisons. 

The  argument  that  the  system  renders  the  institution  self-supporting  is  not  a 
logical  or  liberal  one,  and  should  be  given  no  consideration  if  the  intention  is  to 
determine  between  a  right  and  a  wrong  system. 

B.    THE   PIECE-PRICE  SYSTEM. 

This  is  a  modification  of  the  contract  system  and  was  developed  from  that  sys- 
tem in  order  to  overcome  some  of  the  objectionable  features  of  that  method  of 
employment.  Under  it  either  the  State  or  the  individual  may  own  the  plant  neces- 
sary to  the  manufacture  of  a  given  product.  The  proposition  of  the  State  is,  then, 
to  transform  anybody's  raw  material  into  a  specified  product  for  a  given  price  per 
piece. 

The  advantages  of  the  system  are  that  the  State  does  not  appear  in  the  market, 
either  as  a  buyer  of  material  or  seller  of  goods.  Under  it  a  great  variety  of 
industries  can  be  conducted;  the  contractor's  men  have  no  position  in  the  prison, 
and  every  effort  for  reformation  is  left  untrammeled  by  outside  influence;  and,  if 
the  State  owns  the  necessary  plant,  as  is  usually  the  case,  and  the  bidder  is  not 
required  to  invest  his  capital  in  machinery  before  he  can  avail  himself  of  the 
opportunity  to  bid  for  prison  work,  then  all  outside  parties  are  upon  an  equal 
footing  and  bids  will  approximate  the  maximum  value  of  the  work. 

While  these  features  result  in  giving  the  system  many  advantages  over  the  con- 
tract system  and  do  in  a  large  degree  satisfy  the  prison  reformer,  they  do  not 
remove  the  competition  with  free  labor.  This  is  clearly  shown  by  the  conditions 
under  which  the  system  was  worked  in  California.  According  to  the  first 
biennial  report  of  the  bureau  of  labor  of  that  State  the  piece-price  system  went 
into  effect  January  1,  1882. 

The  report  says:  "  Prior  to  that  time  a  few  business  firms  in  San  Francisco  prac- 
tically controlled  the  State  prison  at  San  Quentin  by  contracting  to  furnish  its 
convicts  with  labor  at  so  much  a  day.  This  was  seen  to  be  wrong,  and  by  the 
provisions  of  the  act  of  1880  the  contract  system  was  done  away  with,  and  in  its 
place  the  following  plan  of  working  the  convicts  was  ordered:  That  the  State 
should  supply  the  labor  and  motive  power  to  whosoever  wished  to  engage 
them,  and  then  that  the  product  should  be  sold  at  a  reasonable  rate.  This  prac- 
tically made  the  old  contract  system  as  active  as  it  ever  was,  although  masquer- 
ading under  another  name.  Instead  of  contracting  to  pay  so  much  per  diem  for 
convict  labor,  the  firms  who  now  make  use  of  a  State  institution,  contract  to  pay 
so  much  for  the  product  of  that  labor.  It  is  true  that  the  contract  is  now  called 
a  "proposition "  but  its  effects  are  practically  and  precisely  the  same.  The  result 
proves  this.  The  evil  complained  of  under  the  contract-labor  system  was,  that 
the  firm  was  paying  a  low,  an  exceedingly  low,  rate  of  wages  and  were  enabled  to 
have  made  for  them  articles  at  such  a  price  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  any 
other  manufacturer  who  was  not  enjoying  the  benefits  of  such  a  contract  to  pro- 
duce similar  goods  at  anything  approaching  a  similar  price.  Under  the  present 
system,  a  few  firms  contract  to  take  from  the  prison  all  that  is  manufactured 
there  at  certain  prices,  but  these  prices,  like  the  wages  they  paid,  are  so  low  that 


42  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

they  once  more  receive  their  goods  at  a  rate  which  again  enables  them  to  place 
them  on  the  market  at  a  figure  with  which  no  outside  firm  can  compete.  What 
difference  does  it  make  then  whether  these  firms  contract  to  pay  a  certain  wage 
or  contract  to  pay  a  certain  price  for  the  product,  when  wage  and  price  are  both 
ruinously  low?  Call  it  wage  per  diem,  or  call  it  price  per  piece,  the  result  is 
precisely  the  same." 

The  prison  labor  reform  commission  created  by  the  legislature  of  New  York  in 
May,  1886,  discarded  the  piece-price  plan  in  the  following  conclusions: 

"  Only  a  few  years  since  there  arose  in  this  State  a  cry  from  the  ranks  of  the 
laborer  against  the  contract  system.  The  result  was  the  abolition  of  that  system 
3  years  ago.  Those  who  declared  against  the  contract  system  not  only  did  not  object 
to  the  piece-price  plan,  but  in  some  instances  commended  it.  But  a  careful  and 
painstaking  examination  of  the  piece-price  plan  in  practical  operation,  and  where 
the  comparative  tests  have  been  fairly  applied .  shows  it  to  be  clearly  more  oppressive 
and  therefore  more  offensive  to  competitive  free  labor  in  certain  respects  than 
even  the  contract  system.  The  system  of  labor  known  as  the  piece-price  plan  has 
been  tested  in  several  prisons,  notably  in  New  Jersey.  The  result  shows  that,  so 
far  from  meeting  the  objections  of  prison  labor  competition,  which  had  been  the 
cause  of  the  change  there  from  the  contract  to  the  piece-price  plan,  the  latter  was 
found  to  be  a  more  serious  competitor  with  free  labor  than  the  contract  system. 
It  was  clearly  demonstrated  that  more  goods  were  manufactured  and  turned  loose 
upon  the  market  per  capita  than  under  the  contract  system,  and  that  the  State 
received  less  pay  for  it.  Less  hours  of  daylight  in  winter  and  the  botchwork  of 
beginners  or  of  inferior  workmen  militated  against  the  State,  it  is  true,  but  in 
order  to  meet  the  agreement  with  the  employing  agent  or  contractor,  a  greater 
amount  of  work  and  greater  ratio  of  production  was  required.  The  State,  becom- 
ing the  manufacturer  by  this  system,  agrees  to  furnish  a  given  quantity  of 
manufactured  goods  within  a  specified  time,  as  well  as  at  a  given  price,  and  of 
necessity  such  goods  must  come  up  to  the  standard  fixed  by  the  party  who  takes 
the  product.  If  from  any  cause — unskillfulness  or  viciousness  entering  conspic- 
uously into  this  estimate — these  goods  are  damaged,  or  fail  to  reach  the  high 
standard  of  excellence  fixed  and  passed  upon  by  the  contracting  agent,  they  are  of 
course  rejected,  and  the  State  is  the  loser.  By  this  system  also  citizen  "  instruct- 
ors "  employed  by  the  contracting  agent  may  be  placed  in  charge  of  the  work  of 
convicts.  This  was  one  of  the  objections  urged  against  the  contract  system 
proper,  as  often,  if  not  always  and  of  necessity,  interfering  with  prison  discipline. 
If  profit  and  product  were  the  end  and  aim  chiefly  to  be  desired,  there  would  be 
no  material  objection  to  urge  against  the  piece-price  plan  as  the  next  best  thing 
to  the  old  contract  system,  or  as  the  contract  system  by  another  name,  with 
certain  modifications  unfavorable  to  State  profit  and  the  interests  of  free  labor. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  reformation  of  convicts  is  to  be  fostered  and  encouraged, 
the  question  of  profit  from  convict  labor  must  be  sunk  out  of  sight,  and  the  State 
and  its  chosen  officials  must  have  full  control  of  the  task,  the  hours  of  labor  and 
the  discipline  of  the  convicts,  as  well  as  the  fixing  of  a  standard  of  excellence  in 
the  manufactured  product  regulated  by  such  rules,  rewards,  or  punishments  as 
shall  be  deemed  just  and  necessary  to  a  proper  performance  of  the  tasks  assigned.'' 

The  system  is  so  closely  allied  to  the  contract  system  that  the  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  both  should  practically  be  treated  as  the  same,  though  from  a 
theoretic  standpoint,  at  least,  the  piece-price  system  is  capable  of  greater  utility 
in  meeting  and  overcoming  the  objectionable  features  of  convict  labor. 

THE   LEASE  SYSTEM. 

This  system  has  but  few  advocates  and  but  one  advantage.  Its  single  advantage 
is,  that  it  insures  a  good  financial  return  to  the  State  operating  it.  According  to 
the  Report  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  it  is  the  most  remunerative  system  in 
vogue,  its  proceeds  constituting  372  per  cent,  taking  all  States  together  that  worked 
tinder  it  in  1886,  of  its  running  expenses.  Under  this  system  the  State  practically 
has  no  care  of  the  convicts ;  it  shirks  its  entire  responsibility  beyond  the  receipt 
of  the  money  specified  to  be  paid  by  the  lessee. 

The  system  prevails  in  but  few  States,  and  those  are  almost  entirely  in  the 
southern  section  of  the  country,  where  it  is  claimed  that  the  climatic  conditions 


PRISON   LABOR.  43 

and  class  of  criminals  are  such  that  it  is  the  most  practical,  if  not  the  best,  sys- 
tem that  could  be  adopted.  This  may  bs  temporarily  true,  but  the  disadvantages 
of  the  system  are  so  great  that  the  advantages  are  overshadowed. 

Bad  as  the  contract  system  is,  in  a  reformatory  view,  even  when  checked  and 
controlled  by  the  State's  appointed  agent,  it  is,  nevertheless,  far  better  than  the 
system  of  absolute  leasing.  For,  while  the  leasing  system  is  liable  to  all  the 
abuses  of  the  contract  system  it  is  open  to  some  peculiar  to  itself.  The  tempta- 
tion to  excessive  gain,  and  to  whatever  abuses  thought  conducive  to  that  end, 
have  no  restraining  tie.  The  same  principle  underlies  it  as  that  which  generaled 
the  horrible  and  disgusting  abuses  of  the  old  English  jail  system. 

The  lessee  becomes  the  agent  of  the  most  active  competition.  Places  pecuniary 
interests  in  conflict  with  humanity.  Makes  possible  the  infliction  of  greater 
punishment  than  the  law  and  the  courts  have  imposed,  renders  impracticable  the 
proper  care  by  the  State  of  the  health  of  the  prisoners,  or  their  requisite  sepa- 
ration according  to  classes,  sexes  and  conditions.  Reduces  to  a  minimum  the 
chances  of  reformation,  and  places  convict  labor,  in  many  instances,  in  direct 
competition  with  the  honest  labor  of  the  State. 


CHAPTER  III. 
EMPLOYMENT  OF  PRISONERS  FOR  PUBLIC  BENEFIT  EXCLUSIVELY. 

The  results  of  prison  labor  may  be  devoted  to  the  benefit  of  the  State,  or  of  its 
institutions,  under  either  of  the  following  methods  of  employment. 

First.  By  the  public-account  system,  under  which  the  institution  carries  on  the 
business  of  manufacturing  like  a  private  individual  or  firm,  buying  raw  materials 
and  converting  them  into  manufactured  articles,  which  are  sold  in  the  best  available 
market. 

Second.  By  the  employment  of  prisoners  upon  public  buildings,  works  and  ways. 

Third.  By  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  the  manufacture  of  goods  for  con- 
sumption in  government  institutions. 

A. — THE  PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. 

Any  industry  whether  manufacturing,  agricultural  or  mining,  in  which  pris- 
oners are  employed  and  where  the  products  of  their  labor  are  to  be  sold,  the  cash 
proceeds  being  devoted  exclusively  to  the  benefit  of  the  State  or  its  political  sub- 
divisions, is  classed  under  this  general  system. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  this  method  of  employment  may  be  summarized 
as  follows,  Whatever  profit  is  made  in  labor  and  in  sales  goes  to  the  State;  no 
individual  secures  an  advantage  in  the  production  of  goods;  the  prisoner  works 
with  better  spirit,  because  he  knows  his  work  is  for  the  State  he  has  offended; 
the  prisoner  is  entirely  under  State  control;  it  offers  the  best  opportunities  for 
reformatory  efforts;  the  price  of  free  labor  is  not  affected;  the  State  can  regulate 
the  amount  of  any  given  product  it  manufactures;  it  permits  of  a  diversity  of 
occupations  for  the  convicts;  it  can  be  modified  in  many  ways  to  suit  the  condi- 
tions prevailing  in  different  localities;  motive  power  may  or  may  not  be  used;  the 
prisoners  maybe  employed  with  the  intention  of  reformation  rather  than  meeting 
with  financial  success. 

The  system,  in  some  form,  is  practiced  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  almost  all 
of  the  States.  Its  adoption  has  been  recommended  in  numerous  official  reports 
giving  the  results  of  close  and  extended  investigations  of  the  convict  problem. 

In  January,  1887,  the  commissioner  of  labor  of  Michigan  submitted  a  very 
exhaustive  report  on  convict  labor,  and  concluded  an  elaborate  discussion  of  the 
whole  subject  with  the  recommendation  that  the  contract  system,  which  was  in 
vogue  in  the  State,  be  abolished,  and  as  a  substitute  therefor  that  the  convicts 
be  employed  upon  the  State-account  plan,  without  the  use  of  motive-power 
machinery. 

In  recommending  the  State-account  system,  a  special  committee,  appointed  by 
the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania  in  1887,  stated  that  in  order  to  avoid  the  profit 
made  by  contractors  to  the  injury  of  free  labor,  it  is  not  only  necessary  to  abolish 
the  contract  system,  but  also  to  modify  the  convicts' labor,  so  that  it  will  not 
injuriously  affect  the  private  enterprise  of  any  class  of  outside  manufacturers. 

The  committee  concluded  that  this  could  best  be  done  with  a  due  regard  to  the 
burden  of  taxation,  State,  county,  or  city,  and  the  proper  support  of  prison 
inmates  by  teaching  each  prisoner  a  full  trade,  avoiding  the  use  of  machinery,  and 
disposing  of  the  product  of  convict  labor  in  the  open  market,  where  the  best  arti- 
cles command  the  best  price,  confining,  as  far  as  possible,  the  industries  taught 
44 


PRISON    LABOR.  45 

to  those  articles  that  are  used  in  public  and  penal  and  charitable  institutions  sup- 
ported by  taxation.  The  profit,  if  any,  under  this  plan  would  result  directly  to 
the  benefit  of  the  taxpayer.  Diversifying  the  trades  taught,  seeking  for  those 
that  are  least  injurious  to  free  labor,  trying  to  dispose  of  the  products  of  these 
industries  where  the  competition  is  hardly  ascertainable,  and  the  placing  on  the 
management  of  these  institutions  the  duty  of  careful  supervision  of  the  trades 
taught,  and  the  disposition  of  their  productive  labor,  so  that  the  closest  economy 
will  be  the  positive  effect  of  their  administration,  and  the  necessary  reduction  ot 
the  smallest  amount  of  taxation,  are  the  remedies  to  be  sought,  and  are  both  feasi- 
ble and  practicable. 

In  an  extended  discussion  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  various 
methods  under  which  convicts  are  employed,  the  commissioner  of  labor  of  Illinois, 
in  his  fourth  biennial  report,  makes  the  following  statement  concerning  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  public-account  system: 

"Some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  public-account  system  have  already  been 
adverted  to,  but  may  be  briefly  restated.  This  system  contemplates  the  employ- 
ment of  convicts  by  the  warden,  and  for  the  State,  without  the  intervention  of 
any  other  persons  or  interests.  To  express  more  fully  the  possibilities  of  the  sys- 
tem under  its  best  form  of  development,  it  contemplates,  first,  such  employment 
as  will  promote  in  the  highest  degree  that  discipline,  correction  and  reformation 
which  will  best  fit  the  criminal  for  restoration  to  society,  and,  secondly  and  inci- 
dentally, enable  him  most  effectually  to  contribute  to  the  cost  of  his  incarcera- 
tion. For  the  maintenance  of  such  industries  the  State  furnishes  the  necessary 
equipment,  and  must,  of  course,  buy  its  material  and  sell  its  product  in  open 
market.  It  is  manifest  that  the  degree  of  success  which  may  be  attained  under  this 
system,  both  in  reformation  and  in  avoiding  harmful  consequences  to  ouside 
interests,  depends  wholly  upon  the  relative  importance  which  is  given  to  the  two 
specified  objects. 

"  If  the  administration  is  directed  chiefly  to  the  development  of  the  individual 
tendencies  and  capacities  of  the  convicts,  the  varieties  of  occupation  given  them 
will  necessarily  be  great,  involving  perhaps,  corresponding  expenditures  for  equip- 
ment and  superintendence,  and  presumably  smaller  revenues  to  the  State.  But 
this  diversifying  of  occupations  will,  at  the  same  time,  not  only  constitute  a  potent 
reformatory  measure,  but  will  also  of  necessity  greatly  reduce,  if  it  does  not 
wholly  remove,  all  injurious  competition.  Thus  may  the  best  fruits  of  the  system 
be  realized  and  the  justification  of  the  system  itself  be  established,  though  possi- 
bly the  revenues  may  be  somewhat  impaired.  On  the  other  hand,  if  it  be  the  dis- 
position of  the  management  to  maintain  few  but  extensive  shops,  and  make  general 
use  of  improved  machinery  and  appliances,  the  establishment  would  no  doubt  be 
more  successful  as  a  manufactory,  and  might  possibly  pay  dividends  upon  the  capi- 
tal invested  in  it;  but,  aside  from  the  advantage  which  would  flow  from  the  absence 
of  the  contractor,  it  is  difficult  to  see  wherein  the  public-account  system,  as  thus 
administered,  would  be  any  improvement  over  the  contract  system.  So  far  as 
competition  is  concerned,  the  State,  as  a  manufacturer  and  seller,  on  a  large  scale, 
of  machine-made  products,  would  not  only  perpetuate  the  evils  of  the  contract 
system,  but  possibly  aggravate  them,  for  the  necessity  to  sell  would  be  just  as 
imperative,  while  the  incentive  to  realize  a  good  price  would  be  less  than  that  of 
a  contractor  with  his  private  capital  at  stake. 

"  Thus  the  success  of  this  system  may  be  said  to  rest  wholly  upon  the  manner 
of  administering  it.  It  may  be  so  readily  abused,  by  an  officer  willing  to  defeat 
the  object  of  which  it  is  established,  that,  unless  the  details  of  its  execution  be 
defined  within  careful  limitations,  it  may  prove  a  remedy  worse  than  the  disease." 

If  the  principl  >  to  be  recognized  in  the  employment  of  convict  labor  shall  be 
that  such  a  system  be  chosen,  as  shall  first  tend  to  promote  in  the  greatest  measure 
the  discipline,  punishment,  and  reformation  of  the  convict,  the  public-account 
system  commends  itself  more  strongly  than  any  we  have  thus  far  considered. 
Under  it  the  State  has  complete  control  of  the  convicts,  unawed  by  obligations  or 
demands  of  contractor,  agent,  or  instructor. 

A  legislative  committee  of  New  York,  in  May,  1886,  after  a  careful  consideration 
of  all  the  interests  and  the  responsibilities  involved,  recommended  the  adoption 
of  the  public-account  system  in  the  following  terms; 


46  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

"  The  choice  is  made  in  the  discharge  of  a  conscientious  duty  and  after  a  careful 
weighing  of  the  subject  in  detail.  This  duty  was  not  sought,  but  rather  imposed. 
It  was  not  accepted  without  a  fair  conception  of  the  delicacies  and  difficulties 
surrounding  it,  and  its  discharge  has  been  in  the  desire  fairly  to  subserve  the 
highest  interests  involved.  There  were,  as  stated  at  the  outset,  but  two  systems 
left  from  which,  of  necessity,  choice  must  be  made  for  the  employment  of  convict 
labor  in  the  State.  The  commission  believes  that  the  correct  tendency  and  logic 
of  the  times  trend  in  the  direction  of  '  prison-labor  reform,'  and  so  believing,  it 
had  but  one  intelligent  duty  to  perform,  and  that  duty  was  to  adopt  the  only  sys- 
tem which  opened  the  way  to  reforms  both  needed  and  demanded." 

It  is  conceded  by  many  who  advocated  the  public-account  system,  because  of  its 
reformatory  and  disciplinary  features,  without  regard  to  the  financial  results,  that 
the  best  results  can  be  reached  by  abolishing  the  use  of  machinery.  This  has  been 
done  in  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania,  if  not  elsewhere,  and  it  is 
proved  conclusively  that  goods  made  in  this  way  find  a  market  at  fair  prices. 

In  discussing  this  feature  of  the  public-account  system,  it  is  stated  in  the  Second 
Annual  Report  of  the  Department  of  Labor  that  with  such  a  plan  in  vogue 
throughout  the  United  States,  or  in  the  majority  of  the  States,  there  could  be  no 
complaint  as  to  the  effect  of  convict  labor  upon  the  rates  of  wages  or  upon  the 
sales  of  goods,  either  in  price  or  in  quantity. 

"By  the  adoption  of  the  hand-labor  plan  the  State  would  be  relieved  from  the 
necessity  of  securing  manufacturers  of  skill  and  experience  as  wardens.  Any 
man  fit  to  be  warden  of  a  prison — and  this  in  itself  requires  men  of  the  highest 
qualities — can  manage  a  prison  and  conduct  its  industries,  if  they  be  carried  on 
under  the  hand  system  without  the  aid  of  power  machinery.  The  disadvantages 
which  must  be  placed  over  against  these  great  advantages  that  have  been  enumer- 
ated, are,  under  the  broadest  consideration,  trivial  and  of  no  great  account.  The 
objection  to  this  plan,  which  has  been  proposed  by  many  investigators,  and  which 
is  now  under  consideration,  involves  the  abandonment  of  the  idea  that  prisons 
must  pay.  It  contemplates  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  securing  the  maxinmm 
reformatory  results  without  regard  to  the  income  to  the  treasury.  All  other 
systems  contemplate  maximum  results  to  the  treasury,  with  as  much  regard  for 
reformatory  results  as  is  possible  without  interfering  with  receipts.  This  objection 
is  the  weightiest  against  the  hand-labor  idea,  because  it  is  recognized  by  all  men 
that  a  healthy  convict,  having  offended  society  and  put  it  to  great  expense  to 
repair  the  damages  he  has  done,  or  to  convict  and  punish  him,  or  to  exclude  him 
from  society  that  he  may  commit  no  more  depredation,  should  be  compelled  to 
earn  his  support  as  the  ward  of  the  State,  although  he  did  not  earn  his  support 
while  not  a  ward  of  the  State.  This  objection  in  regard  to  expense  is  one  which 
the  American  public  will  probably  meet  in  the  heroic  manner  in  which  it  meets 
all  such  problems,  that  is,  in  the  spirit  to  do  the  best  for  the  whole  body  politic 
without  regard  to  expense;  nor  should  this  objection  have  much  weight,  when 
the  facts  are  considered." 

Farming  operations  under  the  public-account  system  have  met  with  good  success 
in  many  of  the  States,  especially  in  the  South.  It  eliminates  the  serious  objection 
to  close  confinement;  reduces  competition  to  a  minimum  and  gives  the  State  full 
control  of  the  convict. 

"The  most  extensive  farming  operations  by  convicts  in  this  country  are  to  be 
found  in  North  Carolina.  It  appears  by  the  report  of  the  board  of  directors  that 
14,600  acres  of  land  were  under  the  control  of  the  penitentiary,  by  lease  or 
otherwise,  in  1896.  The  area  cultivated  in  all  crops  that  year  was  estimated  to  be 
11,300  acres.  Nearly  900  convicts  were  employed  on  this  land.  The  bulk  of  the 
products  consisted  of  cotton  and  corn.  The  farming  operations  were  so  profitable 
that  in  1896  the  penitentiary  paid  all  its  expenses.  This  was  the  first  time, 
however,  in  its  history  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  that  it  was  possible 
to  report  the  full  support  of  the  penitentiary  from  its  own  resources." 

The  state  of  affairs  in  North  Carolina  indicates  that,  even  under  especially 
favorable  conditions,  agricultural  employment  can  not  be  relied  upon  to  furnish 
full  occupation  for  convicts;  it  is  available  for  only  part  of  the  year.  While, 
therefore,  it  may  be  made  exceedingly  useful  in  connection  with  other  forms  of 
work,  it  can  never  become  wholly  a  substitute  for  mechanical  or  other  industrial 
employment. 


PRISON    LABOR.  47 

OBJECTIONS. 

The  public-account  system  embodies  in  a  large  measure  the  true  theory  of  penal 
administration  and  while  it  is  possible  by  competent  and  judicial  management 
so  to  control  the  labor  of  convicts  under  it,  as  to  lead  to  good  results  financially 
for  the  State,  as  well  as  reformatory,  disciplinary  and  educational  for  the  pris- 
oner, the  history  of  the  system  does  not  show  that  these  results  have  uniformly 
attended  its  adoption,  nor  does  it  appear  that  its  use  has  removed  the  objection- 
able features  of  competition  with  free  labor. 

The  reason  why  the  system  has  failed  to  meet  with  all  the  success  presaged  by 
its  advocates,  have  been  stated  as  follows: 

The  difficulty  of  securing  men  efficient  as  wardens,  and  at  the  same  time 
efficient  as  practical  manufacturers  and  business  managers;  with  the  increase  in 
the  size  of  the  institution  and  diversification  of  the  industries  this  difficulty 
increases.  The  impossibility  of  combining  under  it  the  capital,  machinery, 
mechanical  skill,  business  skill,  and  ability  necessary  to  the  successful  opera- 
tion of  such  an  enterprise.  The  impracticability  of  finding  a  ready  market  for 
the  manufactured  products. 

The  objections  to  the  system  as  it  had  been  conducted  in  New  York  were  sum- 
marized by  the  commissioner  of  labor  of  that  State  in  1884  as  follows: 

"  The  public-account  system,  as  it  has  been  administered  in  this  State,  has  been 
found  imperfect  in  the  following  particulars: 

"  First.  It  was  extremely  costly. 

"  Second.  It  was  made  a  political  machine  to  furnish  places  for  small  poli- 
ticians, rather  than  an  institution  to  reform  the  criminals. 

"Third.  The  convicts  were  employed  at  labor  not  adapted  to  remunerative 
results,  or  to  any  possibility  of  discipline. 

"  Fourth.  The  officers  did  not  attend  to  their  duties. 

"  Fifth.  The  large  outlay  of  the  funds  of  the  State  gave  opportunity,  in  the  gen- 
eral disorder  and  mismanagement,  for  wholesale  extravagance  and  peculation. 

' '  Sixth.  The  councils  of  the  administration  were  divided,  and  consequently 
there  was  no  unity  of  purpose  or  well-defined  responsibility. 

"Seventh.  The  administration  was  altered  periodically,  and  the  officers  held 
position  on  account  of  their  skill  in  politics,  not  prison  management. 

"  Eighth.  The  control  of  the  prisoners  was  put  in  the  hands  of  jealous  and 
scheming  incompetents." 

In  the  report  for  1898  of  the  proceedings  of  the  board  of  control  of  prisons  of 
Michigan,  where  both  the  public-account  and  contract  system  are  in  vogue,  it  is 
stated  that — 

"The  only  reason  why  more  convicts  are  not  worked  on  the  State  account  is 
that  the  State  gets  more  profit  and  better  results  on  the  whole  when  the  prisoners 
work  on  contract.  The  course  taken  is  wholly  based  on  business  reasons,  and  that 
course  pursued  that  is  in  each  prison  found  best  for  the  State.  It  is  believed, 
however,  that  all  the  boards  and  wardens  are  of  the  opinion  that  conditions  may 
change  so  that  the  State-account  system  may  do  better  than  it  has  done." 

"Under  this  system  the  same  influences  that  govern  business  circles  outside  of 
the  prisons,  and  tend  to  prosperity  or  adversity,  obtain  in  prisons,  and  influence 
trade  favorably  or  unfavorably." 

The  success  of  the  public-account  system  is  dependent  not  only  on  the  ordinary 
contingencies  that  control  industrial  and  mercantile  transactions,  but  is  subject 
to  the  following  which  are  peculiar  to  itself:  At  times  the  products  are  a  drug  on 
the  market,  but  the  convicts  must  be  kept  employed,  thereby  increasing  the  stock 
of  goods  to  be  disposod  of;  the  sale  of  the  goods  is  retarded,  not  only  by  the  indis- 
position of  dealers  to  have  transactions  in  goods  made  by  convict  labor,  but  by 
legislation  that  requires  the  goods  to  be  branded,  or  sold  outside  the  limits  of  the 
State  where  manufactured,  or  not  sold  at  a  lower  rate  than  the  regular  market 
price;  but  a  small  percentage  of  the  convicts  have  had  any  practical  experience 


48  UNITED   STATES   INDUSTRIAL   COMMISSION. 

in  mechanical  pursuits,  and  of  this  small  percentage  but  a  few  can  be  classed  as 
skilled  mechanics;  the  necessity  for  a  diversification  of  industries  with  no  skilled 
help  in  any  of  the  branches;  the  indisposition  of  the  convicts  to  put  forward  their 
best  efforts;  wardens  are  seldom  good  managers  of  convicts  and  also  good  mana- 
gers of  manufacturing  enterprises;  the  wages  of  a  prison  warden  are  but  a  small 
temptation  to  a  man  who  has  the  ability  to  meet  with  success  in  the  business 
world;  public  officials  become  careless  of  those  details  which  are  essential  to 
business  success;  the  temptation  to  defraud,  especially  if  the  tenure  of  office 
depends  upon  the  success  of  political  parties. 

As  a  large  percentage  of  the  business  men  during  their  business  careers  are 
obliged  to  go  into  bankruptcy,  or  to  make  assignments  for  the  benefit  of  creditors, 
the  opponents  of  the  public-account  system  claim  that  men  employed  for  the 
State  under  salaries  could  meet  with  no  better  success,  especially  when  in  addi- 
tion to  the  ordinary  difficulties  attending  a  business  career  they  have  in  addition 
to  combat  with  those  which  are  peculiar  to  the  system. 

The  failures  and  admitted  risks  of  the  public-account  system  cause  prison 
managers  to  shrink  from  the  great  responsibility  of  establishing  it  in  a  prison 
where  large  numbers  are  confined.  Beyond  a  doubt  it  can  be  made  effective, 
when  but  50  to  300  are  employed,  but  when  thousands  are  to  be  employed  the  case 
is  far  more  difficult. 

The  public-account  system  had  been  in  actual  practice  in  Illinois  for  some  years 
when,  in  1872,  a  legislative  committee  was  appointed  to  investigate  the  peniten- 
tiary. The  report  of  this  committee  disclosed  a  net  loss  to  the  State  during  four 
years  and  five  months  of  management  of  $314,212. 

"  The  causes  which  had  led  to  this  result  are  stated  categorically  as  six: 

"1.  Inexperienced  and  incompetent  management. 

"  2.  Want  of  harmony  in  the  management. 

"  3.  Depreciation  of  property  and  of  manufactured  articles,  experienced  alike 
by  all  persons  engaged  in  manufacturing  during  the  same  period. 

"  4.  Want  of  stability  in  the  plans  of  management  and  changes  in  officers  and 
subordinates. 

"5.  Loose  and  careless  manner  during  the  first  two  years  of  purchasing  and 
receiving  goods. 

"  6.  The  payment  of  large  amounts  as  interest,  made  necessary  by  lack  of  capi- 
tal and  credit." 

The  committee,  therefore,  submitted  a  report  to  the  effect  that  they  were  of 
opinion  that  the  feeding,  clothing  and  guarding  of  the  convicts,  without  any 
return  for  their  labor,  can  be  secured  for  less  cost  to  the  State  than  has  resulted 
from  the  manufacturing  experiment;  and  that  it  would  be  a  measure  of  economy 
for  the  State  to  feed,  clothe  and  guard  the  convicts  by  direct  appropriation,  and 
leave  the  labor  wholly  unemployed,  as  compared  with  the  results  of  the  experi- 
ment in  engaging  in  manufacturing. 

Perhaps  the  chief  disadvantages  arising  under  this  system  are  the  difficulty  of 
disposing  of  the  products,  the  impracticability  of  furnishing  constant  employ- 
ment to  the  convicts,  and  the  competition  with  free  labor  and  industry. 

In  regard  to  the  difficulty  of  disposing  of  the  products  of  convict  labor  the  com- 
missioner of  prisons  of  New  York  in  his  first  annual  report  states : 

"  The  objection  generally  of  the  people  to  such  a  direct  competition  of  convict 
labor  has  made  it  so  difficult  to  sell  the  goods  known  to  be  the  product  of  prison 
labor  that  the  goods  could  not  be  sold  in  the  market  at  the  same  price  as  the 
product  of  other  manufacturers;  and  in  order  to  make  sales  the  price  was  neces- 
sarily reduced,  thus  producing  the  same  unfair  competition  and  reducing  the 
price  of  all  goods  of  that  class,  and  causing  the  same  result  in  the  market  as  the 
contract  system.  Further,  the  difficulty  of  selling  prison-made  goods  has  caused 
large  expense  in  the  sales  department.  *  *  *  Therefore  it  would  seem  to  be 
evident  from  these  results  that  it  is  not  practicable  for  the  State  to  manufacture 
on  its  own  account  for  sale  in  the  open  market." 


PRISON    LABOR.  49 

Under  the  contract  system  the  contractor  has  very  strong  reasons  for  getting 
good  prices.  The  prison  officer  has  not  the  same  personal  motive,  however  faith- 
ful he  may  be.  The  superintendent  of  the  Ohio  Reform  School  has  stated  : 

"  That  with  the  same  number  of  boys  the  State  realized  $25,000  more  per  year 
from  the  piece-price  plan  than  from  the  State  account  plan.  The  reason  of  the 
gain  was  the  better  facilities  which  the  contractors  had  for  getting  higher  prices 
for  their  products.  It  is  important  to  free  manufacturers  and  to  free  laborers 
that  prison  products  shall  not  sell  for  low  prices  in  the  market  in  competition 
with  those  of  other  factories.  In  that  form  competition  might  be  seriously  felt  in 
a  dull  market  by  compelling  the  shading  of  prices." 

It  has  been  shown  by  numerous  investigations  that  under  the  public-account 
system  there  is  a  greater  competition  with  the  products  of  free  labor,  so  far  as  the 
price  of  the  goods  is  concerned,  than  under  any  other. 

In  the  second  annual  report  of  the  Department  of  Labor  for  the  year  1886  it  is 
stated: 

"  That  the  competition  under  the  public-account  system  has  been  the  expe- 
rience of  the  past,  and  this  is  a  reasonable  claim,  for  the  officers  of  the  prison 
manufacturing  goods  on  the  State  or  public  account  are  not  obliged  to  secure  a 
profit  on  the  goodo  sold,  because  the  State  can  not  fail,  and  as  nothing  is  paid  for 
labor,  the  cost  of  production  being  almost  entirely  for  material,  goods  can  be  sold 
for  small  percentage  above  the  cost  of  material,  and  yet  no  great  disaster  arise  to 
the  institution.  It  is  often  suggested  that  this  difficulty  can  be  met  by  providing 
by  law  that  goods  manufactured  in  a  prison  conducted  on  the  public-account 
system  shall  not  be  sold  in  the  market  for  a  less  price  than  the  market  rates  for 
the  same  kind  and  quality  of  goods.  This  is  all  very  well  for  a  law;  but  the  law 
can  not  compel  a  purchaser  to  take  the  goods,  and  the  inevitable  result  would  be, 
if  such  goods  did  not  meet  a  ready  sale  at  market  rates  for  the  products  of  free 
labor,  they  would  be  sold  nominally  at  such  rates,  subject  to  discount  for  cash, 
for  prison  officials  would  not  care  to  pile  up  goods  in  the  prison  warehouses." 

While  a  diversification  of  industry  is  essential  to  the  proper  employment  of 
convicts,  the  constant  tendency  under  the  public-account  system  is  to  a  central- 
ization of  all  the  labor  on  one  or  a  few  lines  of  product.  It  is  only  by  such  prac- 
tice that  success  is  possible.  Few  great  manufacturers  undertake  several  lines 
of  production.  This  tendency  leads  to  an  overproduction  of  a  given  product  and 
the  resulting  underselling,  and  the  necessity  of  curtailing  the  number  employed, 
or  the  time  of  employment. 

The  public-account  system  was  in  actual  practice  in  Wisconsin,  but  finally 
abandoned,  and  the  contract  system  substituted.  After  this  action  the  bureau 
of  labor  and  industrial  statistics  of  the  State  submitted  a  report  on  the  condition 
of  convict  labor,  in  which  the  following  statement  in  opposition  to  the  public- 
account  system  appears: 

"  I  wish  also  to  call  the  attention  of  those  favoring  what  is  called  the  State- 
account  system  to  the  strong  complaints  made  by  several  boot  and  shoe  manu- 
facturers against  the  competition  of  the  reform  school  at  Waukesha.  There  the 
State  owns  everything,  uses  inferior  machinery,  employs  nothing  but  boy  labor, 
and  sells  whenever  and  wherever  it  can.  Our  State  prison  was  formerly  run  on 
that  plan,  but  the  resulting  evils  so  stirred  up  manufacturers  that  the  present 
contract  system  was  devised  to  take  its  place.  We  now  see.  even  by  this  superfi- 
cial glance,  that  our  legislature  will  have  many  things  to  consider  in  dealing 
with  the  question  of  prison  labor;  and  professional  agitators,  reformers,  and 
manufacturers  who  demand  the  abolishment  of  the  contract  system  fall  far  short 
of  their  full  duty  and  of  statesmanlike  conduct  when  they  neglect  and  refuse  to 
lend  their  aid  toward  devising  some  suitable  plan  to  take  the  place  of  that  which 
they  propose  to  destroy." 

The  charge  is  frequently  made  and  sustained  that  the  selling  price  of  the  con- 
vict-made goods  controls  the  market  and  the  system  is  open  to  objection  on  the 
ground  that  the  State  should  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  enter  into  competition 
with  the  laborer  or  manufacturer  for  the  purpose  of  raising  revenue  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  restraining  and  confining  the  criminal  classes,  and  thereby  protect- 
ing society  from  danger  and  contamination,  any  more  than  it  should  engage  in 
competitive  business  for  the  purpose  of  providing  revenue  to  defray  the  other 
expenses  of  the  State  government. 
250A — VOL  in 4 


50  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

B. — EMPLOYMENT  OF   CONVICTS  ON  PUBLIC   BUILDINGS   AND   WAYS. 

This  system  of  employment  is  advocated  on  the  theory  that  it  completely  removes 
any  real  or  supposed  competition  in  prices;  the  State  receives  the  full  benefit  of 
the  labor  in  the  shape  of  permanent  improvements;  it  requires  no  skill  on  the  part 
of  the  workmen  and  therefore  no  time  is  consumed  in  instruction,  and  short- 
termed  prisoners  can  be  worked  with  advantage;  the  work  is  healthful  and 
important,  and  can  be  of  such  a  character  that  it  would  not  otherwise  be 
accomplished. 

The  system  is  in  very  general  use,  especially  in  the  Southern  States,  as  a  means 
of  occupation  when  other  resources  fail. 

In  a  report  giving  the  results  of  an  investigation  of  the  methods  of  employing 
convicts,  contained  in  the  report  for  1895-96  of  the  Bureau  of  Industrial  Statistics 
of  Nebraska,  this  system  is  referred  to  as  follows: 

"  It  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  direct,  so  far  as  possible,  the  prison  labor 
of  the  State  to  such  public  improvements  as  are  needed  and  are  in  no  other  way 
provided  for.  Especially  should  it  be  used  to  improve,  so  far  as  possible,  the  peni- 
tentiary building  and  grounds,  so  that  all  accessories  to  the  comfort  and  moral 
elevation  of  the  prisoners  would  be  attained.  Such  public  improvements  in  con- 
nection with  the  city  as  are  necessary  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  public  and  of 
the  State  and  can  not  well  be  afforded  under  the  present  financial  condition  might 
and  should  be  made  by  the  prison  labor,  so  far  as  practicable." 

The  method  is  warmly  advocated  by  manufacturers  and  workmen.  Of  225 
expressed  opinions  obtained  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor  of  Illinois  from  labor  organi- 
zations, 104  demanded  this  form  of  outdoor  unskilled  manual  labor  for  con victs. 

The  First  Annual  Report  of  the  Commission  of  Prisons  of  New  York  contains 
the  statement  that  "the  boards  of  county  supervisors  appear  to  be  in  favor  of 
working  short-termed  convicts  on  the  public  roads.''  The  Third  Annual  Report 
states  that  ' '  it  can  be  stated  without  fear  of  contradiction  that  in  no  other  way 
or  manner  can  the  convicts  be  employed  with  so  little  effect  on  outside  labor  as 
in  work  on  the  highways,  and  in  no  direction  can  greater  improvement  be  made 
than  in  the  working  of  the  highways.  Where  conditions  are  favorable  for  such 
work  it  has  proved  very  satisfactory."  The  Fourth  Annual  Report  (1898)  states 
that  "  it  has  been  fully  demonstrated  by  experience  that  convicts  can  be  employed 
on  highways  and  other  public  works. 

"  In  the  vicinity  of  Sing  Sing  and  Dannemora  and  Auburn  convicts  from  the 
State  prisons  have  been  engaged  in  building  and  improving  highways,  often  several 
miles  from  the  prison.  It  is  conducive  to  the  health  of  the  convicts  and  does  not 
come  in  conflict  with  free  labor. 

"  The  men  from  the  prisons  chosen  for  this  labor  are  of  those  whose  terms  have 
not  much  longer  to  run.  There  is  an  inducement  to  them  to  remain  subordinate 
and  not  to  attempt  to  escape,  which  would  be  an  offense  that  would  lengthen 
their  terms  by  depriving  them  of  rights  to  commutation  already  earned  by  good 
prison  records.  No  more  keepers  are  required  for  them  in  laboring  outside  the 
prison  walls  than  when  they  are  employed  in  prison,  and  no  chaining  of  convicts 
is  necessary. 

"  The  large  number  of  those  sentenced  to  the  county  jails  upon  convictions  for 
misdemeanors  can  also  be  employed  on  the  roads  of  each  county. 

"As  previously  stated,  this  large  number  is  now  kept  in  idleness,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  those  in  perhaps  a  dozen  counties.  The  shortness  of  their  terms  makes 
attempts  to  escape  improbable,  as  such  escapes  are  usually  unsuccessful  and  only 
result  in  an  additional  term  for  the  new  offense,  a  danger  which  would  deter  the 
attempt. 

"  In  St.  Lawrence  County  jail  convicts  have  been  so  employed  with  success 
several  miles  from  the  jail  under  the  supervision  of  the  commissioner  of  highways 
of  the  town  of  Canton,  in  which  the  jail  is  located." 

There  appears  to  be  a  maturing  judgment  among  the  officers  who  deal  with  con- 
vict labor  directly  in  many  of  the  States  that  construction  work  in  the  prisons 
could  be  thoroughly  well  done  by  convicts  with  marked  economy,  and  consequent 
advantage  to  the  State. 


PRISON    LABOR.  51 

Under  this  system  the  convicts  may  be  employed  either  in  the  direct  construe* 
tion  of  the  building  or  road,  or  in  the  preparation  of  the  materials  to  be  consumed 
in  such  construction.  These  two  ways  of  working  under  the  system  have  been 
brought  to  a  high  stage  of  perfection  in  California  and  North  Carolina.  The  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  prisons  of  Massachusetts  investigated  the  methods  of 
employment  in  both  of  these  States,  and  submitted  a  report  in  1898.  In  substance 
he  states  as  follows: 

'•  In  North  Carolina  it  is  said  that  the  problem  of  providing  public  highways  has 
given  the  people  more  concern  than  any  other  subject,  and  that  the  question  of 
convict  labor  is  second  only  to  that  of  the  road.  The  legislature  of  that  State 
attempted  a  solution  of  both  problems  by  adopting  what  is  known  as  the  '  Meck- 
lenburg law,'  authorizing  the  general  employment  of  convicts  in  road  making, 
or  the  alternative  system  of  building  and  keeping  in  repair  the  public  roads.  It 
was  passed  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  method,  under  which  each  able-bodied 
man  was  required  to  give  a  portion  of  his  time  each  year  in  repairing  the  public 
highways.  The  citizen  has  now  the  option  of  giving  his  labor  or  of  paying  money 
instead  of  it. 

"Roads  have  been  built  in  North  Carolina  as  cheap  as  $800  a  mile,  and  the  most 
expensive  of  them  cost  only  $1 ,800.  This,  however,  is  no  criterion  for  other  States 
where  it  is  not  possible  to  guard,  shelter,  clothe,  and  feed  convicts  for  21  cents 
per  day,  which  is  about  the  average  cost  in  that  State." 

One  of  the  latest  and  most  comprehensive  laws  on  the  subject  of  employing 
convicts  in  road  work  was  enacted  a  few  years  ago  in  California.  Its  provisions 
may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

•'  The  State  board  of  prison  directors  have  control  of  the  rock  or  stone  crushing 
plant  established  at  Folsom. 

' '  The  plant  must  be  operated  by  convict  labor  and  by  the  application  of  the 
mechanical  and  water  power  belonging  to  the  prison.  The  only  free  labor  author- 
ized in  connection  with  it  is  such  as  the  board  may  deem  necessary  for  superin- 
tending and  guarding  the  convicts. 

"In  selling  the  product,  preference  must  be  given  to  orders  received  from  the 
bureau  of  highways. 

"  The  selling  price  shall  be  the  cost  of  production,  with  10  per  cent  added,  pro- 
vided that  no  rock  shall  be  sold  for  less  than  30  cents  per  ton." 

The  following  quotations  from  a  letter  from  the  warden  of  the  Folsom  prison 
give  reliable  information  concerning  the  operation  of  the  law: 

"  We  have  a  rock-crushing  plant  at  this  prison;  it  has  been  in  operation  about 
18  months.  *  *  The  original  act  of  the  legislature,  passed  2  years  ago,  con- 
templated that  we  should  deliver  this  rock  for  road  purposes  at  cost.  The  idea 
was  to  secure  good  roads  at  the  minimum  price,  and  also  to  give  employment  to 
the  convicts.  The  last  legislature  amended  the  law,  and  fixed  the  minimum  price 
at  30  cents  per  ton,  loaded  on  the  cars  at  the  prison.  This  leaves  a  profit  of  about 
10  cents  per  ton.  Our  plant  is  a  large  one,  operated  by  water  power  from  our 
power  house.  We  employ  300  convicts,  and  turn  out  about  500  tons  of  macadam 
daily.  It  is  the  best  appointed  plant  of  the  kind  in  the  country,  and  has  had  the 
effect  of  cheapening  the  building  of  roads  very  materially.  At  Sacramento 
and  Stockton,  our  nearest  distributing  points,  macadam  formerly  cost  $1.70  per 
ton;  under  the  present  arrangement  we  deliver  the  macadam  at  Sacramento  at 
55  cents  and  at  Stockton  at  70  cents  per  ton;  this  is  a  clear  saving  to  these  munici- 
palities of  $1  per  ton.  We  find  this  class  of  work  better  for  convict  labor,  as  it 
requires  no  great  amount  of  skill,  and  is  healthful  outdoor  work. 

"While  this  does  not  make  much  money  for  the  prison  proper,  it  saves  a  large 
amount  to  the  taxpayers,  and  it  encourages  the  building  of  good  roads  in  every 
direction;  this  is  a  direct  benefit  to  the  State,  as  a  saving  to  the  taxpayers  is  a 
benefit  and  profit  to  the  State." 

In  the  second  annual  report  of  the  State  commission  of  prisons  in  New  York, 
the  question  of  the  employment  of  convict  labor  in  building  and  improving  high- 
ways is  considered  at  some  length,  and  the  commission  expresses  the  opinion  that 
in  this  way  the  prisoners  can  be  made  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  State  and  of 
lasting  benefit  to  the  farming  community. 

The  methods  of  working  convicts  on  the  public  roads  in  North  Carolina  is 
described  in  a  recent  publication  by  the  Agricultural  Department,  as  follows: 

"In  all  cases  these  convicts  are  carefully  described  and  photographed.  They 
are  offered  certain  inducements  in  the  way  of  reward  or  shortening  of  term  if 


52  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

they  remain  at  their  posts  and  faithfully  discharge  their  duties.  And  with  this 
they  are  employed  on  the  public  road  very  much  as  hired  labor  would  be,  under 
the  control  of  a  superintendent  or  foreman,  but  without  any  guard,  and  they  are 
allowed  to  remain  at  their  homes  from  Saturday  night  to  Monday  morning.  This 
novel  experiment  has  now  been  in  operation  for  a  year,  and  not  a  convict  has 
attempted  to  escape  or  declined  to  labor  faithfully,  and  the  result  has  been  a 
decided  improvement  in  public  roads. 

"An  examination  of  the  record  of  all  the  counties  that  are  using  convict  labor 
on  the  public  roads  shows  that  but  few  convicts  have  escaped;  that  the  health 
of  the  convicts  has  been  much  better  when  at  work  on  the  road  than  when 
formerly  imprisoned  in  the  jail;  that  their  labor  has  proved  much  more  efficient 
than  that  which  can  be  hired  in  the  country  at  ordinary  prices  of  from  50  to  75 
cents  per  day;  and  that,  as  these  figures  show,  it  not  only  costs  less  to  use  the 
convicts  on  the  public  roads  than  it  does  to  employ  hired  labor,  but  that,  further- 
more, it  costs  less  to  maintain  these  convicts  when  at  work  on  public  roads  than 
when  confined  in  the  county  jail." 

The  employment  of  convicts  in  the  erection  of  public  buildings  has  met  with 
gratifying  results  in  many  instances;  they  have  also  been  successfully  employed 
in  digging  canals,  reservoirs,  and  other  public  works. 

In  the  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Department  of  Labor  this  method  of  em- 
ploying convicts  is  treated  at  considerable  length,  the  conclusion  being  that — 

"In  transferring  prison  labor  to  public  works,  the  State  would  not  compete  with 
the  price  of  artisans'  or  laborers'  work,  but  with  the  work  itself.  The  brick  and 
stone  masons,  the  carpenters  and  painters,  the  hod  carriers  and  tenders,  would 
not  find  the  price  of  their  labor  affected  to  any  material  extent,  but  would  find 
the  market  for  that  labor  occupied  to  the  extent  of  the  works  in  process  of  con- 
struction. 

"  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  State  might  engage  in  some  work  that  would 
not  be  performed  unless  by  convicts,  such  as  macadamizing  the  roads  of  the 
whole  State.  This  would  necessitate  one  of  two  things — either  the  preparation 
of  stone  at  the  prisons,  involving  the  transportation  to  the  prison  from  the  source 
of  supply  and  from  the  prison  to  the  place  for  use,  or  the  mobilization  of  the  con- 
victs at  the  points  not  only  of  supply,  but  of  consumption,  involving  a  heavy 
expense  for  guard  duty  and  temporary  confinement. 

"  This  proposition  is  made  upon  the  ground  that  the  Government  should  not 
make  the  question  of  expense  or  profit  one  of  any  importance,  but  should  seek 
only  to  keep  convicts  at  work  as  the  best  policy,  and  yet  itself  receive  some  last- 
ing benefit  from  the  necessity  it  is  under  of  feeding  and  clothing  them.  The 
chances  of  escape  under  this  system,  of  course,  multiply  greatly;  and  the  demor- 
alizing effects  upon  communities  from  witnessing  large  bodies  of  criminals  at 
work  openly  are  objections  which  the  moral  instincts  of  communities  clearly  rec- 
ognize. The  chain  gang  is  a  necessity  under  this  plan. 

"In  most  States  this  plan  could  not  be  adopted,  because  the  network  of  roads 
already  built  would  necessitate  the  employment  of  convicts  in  repairs;  therefore, 
with  rare  exceptions,  there  is  no  feasibility  in  the  plan. 

"  Wherever  convicts  have  been  employed  on  public  works,  and  this  has  been 
largely  the  case  in  England,  in  building  docks  and  breakwaters  and  works  of  kin- 
dred nature,  the  expense  has  been  very  much  greater  than  it  would  have  been 
through  the  employment  of  free  labor.  In  one  instance  in  this  country,  where  a 
State  is  now  building  a  prison  by  the  labor  of  convicts,  the  prison  will  cost  the 
State  many  times  what  would  have  been  the  expense  had  it  been  built  by  free 
labor.  This  is,  perhaps,  of  no  particular  consequence,  as  the  convicts  must  be  sup- 
ported in  some  way.  At  best  the  plan  offers  a  mere  palliative,  shifting  the  bur- 
den from  skilled  to  unskilled  labor,  and  would  result  in  aggravating  eventually 
all  the  evils  which  grow  out  of  the  employment  of  convicts;  although,  if  the  Fed- 
eral Government  controlled  the  convicts  of  the  whole  country,  great  works  could 
be  projected  and  carried  on  by  convict  labor,  but  not  economically." 

The  popularity  of  this  method  of  employment,  to  a  greater  extent  than  any 
other  system  of  employing  convicts,  is  controlled  by  climatic  conditions,  the 
character  of  the  prisoners,  and  the  sentiment  of  the  community.  The  general 
superintendent  of  prisons  of  Massachusetts,  in  a  report  submitted  in  1898,  states 
that  "  the  public  sentiment  of  Massachusetts  would  not  permit  the  assembling  of 
convicts  upon  any  thoroughfare  in  this  Commonwealth.  The  expense  of  properly 
guarding  them  in  thickly  settled  communities  would  be  quite  out  of  proportion  to 
any  advantage  to  be  derived  from  their  employment  in  that  way.  Furthermore, 


PRISON    LABOR.  53 

there  would  be  the  same  objection  on  the  score  of  competition  with  free  labor 
if  prisoners  were  engaged  in  actual  roadmaking  as  if  they  were  kept  fully 
employed  at  mechanical  work  in  the  prisons.  The  building  of  State  roads  has 
become  an  established  industry  with  free  labor,  and  the  putting  of  convicts  at 
that  work  now  would  excite  a  great  deal  of  opposition.  It  is,  however,  believed 
that  they  might,  without  reasonable  ground  for  complaint,  be  engaged  in  prepar- 
ing the  materials  for  the  construction  of  such  roads." 

The  chief  of  the  bureau  of  statistics  of  labor  of  Massachusetts,  in  a  report  sub- 
mitted to  the  legislature  in  1879,  states  that — 

"  The  advocates  of  this  proposition  do  not,  of  course,  recognize  the  reformation 
of  the  convicts  as  a  matter  of  any  importance,  but  see  that  the  physical,  mental, 
and  even  moral  welfare  of  prisoners  demands  labor  of  some  kind  other  than  the 
penal  labor  of  the  crank,  the  treadmill,  or  shot  drill.  As  to  the  expense  account, 
they  say,  with  reason,  the  cost  of  our  Massachusetts  prisons  is  nearly  $800,000  per 
annum,  and  all  their  earnings  do  not  amount  to  $200,000.  They  insist  iipon  some 
system  that  shall  pay  this  deficit  without  taxation  and  without  undue  com- 
petition, and,  if  this  can  not  be  accomplished,  tax  the  balance,  but  stop  the 
competition. 

"In  some  Southern  States  convicts  are  kept  at  work  upon  farms,  railroads,  in 
mines  and  quarries,  by  the  lessees;  but  none,  or  few,  of  the  prison  officials  are  in 
favor  of  this.  It  does,  however,  pay  the  State;  for  all  the  State  has  to  do  with 
the  matter  is  to  sentence  the  criminals  and  receipt  for  the  price  of  the  lease. 

"  In  the  present  condition  of  things  there  seems  to  be  no  great  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  utilizing  prison  labor  upon  goods  required  for  State  use,  tents  for  militia, 
uniforms,  prison  wants,  etc. 

"  By  this  means,  if  practicable,  all  market  competition  is  removed  to  the  extent 
of  the  utilization  of  convicts  upon  public  works." 

In  January,  1884,  the  bureau  of  labor  statistics  of  New  York  made  its  first 
annual  report  to  the  legislature.  This  report  was  written  by  Charles  F.  Peck, 
Commissioner  of  Labor,  and  dealt  entirely  with  convict  labor.  The  conclusion 
he  reached  regarding  the  employment  of  convicts  on  public  ways  and  works  was 
as  follows: 

"Attached  to  the  plan  of  employing  convicts  at  public  works  is,  also,  not  only 
the  competition  with  unskilled  labor  exclusively,  but  the  manifest  evils  of  famil- 
iarizing the  eyes  of  susceptible  youth  with  the  representatives  of  crime. 

"It  seems  a  necessary  conclusion,  therefore,  that  the  convicts  should  be 
employed  at  various  industries  conducted  within  the  prison  walls  until  at  least 
they  had  merited  a  large  share  of  freedom  at  outdoor  labor  by  continued  good 
behavior. 

"  To  the  objection  that  skilled  labor  should  not  bear  the  competition  exclusively, 
it  must  be  considered  that  unskilled  labor  has  to  bear  a  large  proportion  in  any 
event,  as  prison  duties  and  such  outdoor  labor  as  may  be  found  part  of  the  system 
would  come  tinder  that  department. 

"In  distributing  the  labor  of  the  convicts  among  the  various  industries  there 
is  ample  room  for  selection  in  the  forms  of  labor  at  present  carried  on  in  the 
prisons  of  the  United  States." 

It  is  evident  that  in  the  Northern  States  it  is  impracticable  to  depend  upon  this 
system  as  a  regular  method  of  employing  convicts.  This  is  emphasized  in  a  report 
submitted  by  the  bureau  of  labor  and  industrial  statistics  of  Wisconsin  in  Sep- 
tember, 1886,  where  it  is  stated  that — 

"  Those  who  favor  breaking  stone  and  road  making  can  not  have  carefully  con- 
sidered our  climate,  our  methods  of  making  roads,  the  enormous  cost  of  guarding, 
feeding,  sheltering,  and  working  prisoners  here  and  there  throughout  our  wide 
domain,  and  the  utter  lack  of  discipline  that  must  of  necessity  follow  such  a  system, 
which  would  simply  be  a  great  chain  gang  competing  against  the  unskilled  labor 
of  the  State. 

"  To  my  mind  this  is  the  most  cruel  and  indefensible  of  all  State  competition. 
The  skilled  artisan  can,  by  reason  of  his  larger  earnings,  greater  power  of  pro- 
duction, and  greater  self-supporting  ability,  stand  a  reduction  in  wages  or  a 
change  in  circumstances  that  forces  him  into  a  new  trade;  but  when  the  man 
who  is  unable,  by  reason  of  his  inferior  education  and  less  brilliant  natural 


54  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

endowments,  to  do  anything  but  rude  labor  is  deprived  of  that  labor,  or  his 
scanty  earnings  are  decimated,  he  indeed  must  suffer:  he  has  no  avenue  of  escape; 
and  a  certain  amount  of  food,  warmth,  and  clothing  is  as  necessary  to  the  rude 
laborer  as  to  the  skilled  artisan  or  the  nabob." 

The  paramount  objections  to  this  plan  of  working  convicts  are  summarized  in 
the  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  of  Illinois  as  two :  First — 

"The  making  of  roads,  the  breaking  of  stone,  or  any  form  of  unskilled  labor, 
would  not  remove  competition,  but  merely  shift  it  from  one  class  to  another — 
from  the  mechanic  to  the  day  laborer,  who  works  harder  for  less  money  than 
anybody.  It  would  be  manifestly  inconsistent  to  unload  upon  the  weaker  indus- 
trial element  burdens  which  are  insupportable  to  the  stronger. 

"  In  the  matter  of  public  works  it  is  already  a  grievance,  against  which  national 
legislation  has  recently  been  sought  and  obtained,  that  prison-cut  stone  is  permit- 
ted to  enter  into  public  buildings.  If  convicts  were  required  to  lay  it  as  well  HS 
cut  it,  while  there  could  be  no  competition  in  the  price,  either  of  material  or  labor, 
there  would  be  a  decided  infringement  upon  the  free  laborer's  opportunity  to 
work. 

"  But  a  more  serious  objection,  if  possible,  to  propositions  of  this  kind,  is  that 
they  involve  the  pernicious  practice  of  removing  prisoners  from  prison  walls  and 
herding  them  in  camps  and  stockades  about  the  country,  thus  neutralizing  all 
efforts  at  discipline  or  reformation,  and  demoralizing  the  communities  in  which 
they  are  located." 

THE   EMPLOYMENT  OF   PRISONERS  IN    THE    MANUFACTURE    OF    GOODS    FOR 
CONSUMPTION   IN  GOVERNMENT  INSTITUTIONS. 

Under  this  system  there  must  be  classed  not  only  the  manufacture  of  furniture 
and  all  supplies  necessary  for  the  care  and  maintenance  of  buildings,  but  cloth- 
ing, food,  and  all  supplies  essential  for  the  support  of  the  inmates.  If  necessary 
to  keep  the  prisoners  employed  the  production  of  such  supplies  should  not  he  lim- 
ited to  meeting  the  necessities  of  the  State  penal,  reformatory,  and  eleemosynary 
institutions,  but  should  be  extended  to  all  institutions  under  the  control  of  the 
State  or  any  of  its  political  subdivisions. 

This  method  of  employing  prisoners  has  been  in  use,  to  some  extent,  since  the 
necessity  of  furnishing  occupation  to  convicts  has  been  recognized,  and  is  now 
practiced  in  all  of  the  States  and  Territories.  With  but  few  exceptions,  however, 
it  has  not  been  systematized,  and  the  work  of  the  prisoners  has  been  confined  to 
the  care  of  the  building  in  which  they  are  detained,  or  to  the  manufacture  of 
supplies  and  the  production  of  food  for  its  immediate  inmates.  Recently  the 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  extending  the  system  have  been  realized,  and  in 
New  York  State  it  has  been  perfected  to  the  extent  that  the  convicts  are  employed 
either  in  doing  the  work  of  the  institution  in  which  they  are  confined  or  in  the 
manufacture  of  products  for  the  use  of  that  institution,  or  for  the  use  of  the  State  or 
its  institutions,  or  for  the  iise  of  the  political  divisions  of  the  State  or  their  insti- 
tutions, and  no  products  of  convict  labor  are  sold  in  the  open  market. 

In  the  debate  that  occurred  in  the  legislature  of  the  State  attending  the  adop- 
tion of  a  law  providing  for  this  system  of  employment  it  was  stated  that — 

"  Clothing  is  needed  for  the  inmates  of  the  prison,  reformatories,  and  hospitals, 
for  the  insane  of  the  State,  and  the  jails  of  the  different  counties.  That  which  is 
needed  in  the  State,  county,  and  municipal  institutions  should  be  produced  by 
convict  labor.  We  are  about  to  build  new  prisons,  and  why  should  not  the  work 
be  largely  done  by  convicts. 

•'  We  have  purchased  large  farms  of  land  for  the  use  of  our  State  hospital  for 
the  insane,  upon  which  we  raise  large  quantities  of  food  consumed  annually 
by  the  thousands  of  inmates  of  those  institutions,  and  we  employ  large  num- 
bers of  men  and  women  to  perform  labor  upon  such  farms  and  pay  them  large 
sums  of  money  for  their  services.  There  should  be  a  farm  near  each  State  prison 
or  reformatory,  owned  and  managed  by  the  State,  upon  which  employment  could 
be  given  to  the  prisoners  in  the  production  of  a  large  portion  of  their  necessary 
food." 


PRISON  LABOR.  55 

The  reports  from  the  institutions  in  the  different  States  show  that  the  inmates 
are  almost  invariably  engaged,  to  some  extent,  in  farming  operations,  and  such 
work  is  constantly  referred  to  as  the  most  desirable  for  the  prisoners.  By  extend- 
ing and  systematizing  farm  work  it  would  form  a  material  part  of  a  general  system 
of  production  for  State  use.  The  products  would  be  utilized  in  all  of  the  institu- 
tions, and  prisoners  from  all  of  them  that  were  best  adapted  to  such  work  could 
be  assigned  to  the  farm. 

In  the  first  annual  report  of  the  commission  of  prisons  of  New  York,  the  advan- 
tages of  the  system  are  referred  to  as  follows: 

••  The  products  of  convict  labor  at  Blackwells  Island  are  used  entirely  by  the 
public  institutions  of  the  city.  This  effects  a  great  saving  to  the  city  of  New 
York,  which  receives  the  full  benefit  and  value  of  the  labor  of  its  convicts,  instead 
of  contracting  out  their  labor  at  low  prices,  and  then  buying  the  supplies  in  the 
market  or  hiring  free  labor  at  much  higher  prices.  The  superintendent  stated  that 
he  has  and  will  have  no  difficulty  in  keeping  all  the  convicts  of  New  York  County 
employed  in  labor  for  the  city  and  its  public  institutions.  It  is  necessary  to  have 
a  central  management,  so  as  to  meet  the  necessity  for  a  diversification  of  indus- 
tries to  meet  the  demands  of  the  numerous  institutions.  It  is  practicable  and 
economical  for  county  poor  superintendents,  and  other  county  officials,  to  procure 
their  supplies  in  this  way,  for,  by  so  doing,  they  aid  in  reducing  the  tax  rates. 
When  they  buy  of  the  prisons  they  pay  no  more  than  they  do  elsewhere,  and  they  are 
helping  to  support  the  prisoners,  which  they  must  do  any  way.  No  more  is  used 
than  under  the  contract  system,  but  it  is  so  regulated  that  it  is  not  sold  out  at  a 
low  price  in  competition  with  free  labor,  and  the  taxpayers  get  the  full  benefit  of  it." 

The  theory  of  the  system  meets  with  the  general  approval  of  all  who  have  made 
a  study  of  the  problem  of  convict  labor,  and  almost  uniformly  with  the  approval 
of  those  who  are  in  charge  of  the  various  penal  institutions  in  the  different  States. 
Granting  the  necessity  of  keeping  convicts  employed  on  productive  work,  and 
also  the  necessity  of  removing  the  products  of  their  labor  from  the  open  market, 
their  employment  in  such  a  manner  that  the  products  of  their  industry  shall  be 
consumed  by  the  State  is  the  only  remaining  alternative.  But  their  enipluyment 
for  the  benefit  of  the  institutions  in  which  they  are  confined,  and  of  its  inmates, 
will  not,  as  a  rule,  furnish  sufficient  occupation. 

The  difficulties  attending  the  formulation  and  practical  working  of  a  system  in 
each  State  whereby  the  supplies  for  all  public  institutions  of  every  character  shall 
be  furnished  from  a  central  office,  and  that  office  have  control  of  and  designate 
the  character  and  quantity  of  the  supplies  to  be  produced  at  each  penal  and 
reformatory  institution,  coupled  with  the  fear,  and  in  some  cases  knowledge,  that 
after  such  a  system  had  been  perfected  enough  work  could  not  be  supplied  to 
keep  the  convicts  fully  employed,  has  deterred  legislatures  from  adopting  the 
system. 

The  fourth  biennial  report  of  the  bureau  of  labor  statistics  of  Illinois  presents 
the  following  conclusion  in  regard  to  this  phase  of  the  subject: 

"  The  employment  of  convicts  in  the  manufacture  of  supplies  for  State  institu- 
tions: This  excellent  suggestion  meets  with  uniform  approval,  but  only  partially 
covers  the  case.  This  again  deprives  the  outer  world  of  the  sale  of  whatever 
goods  the  institutions  may  procure  from  penitentiaries,  but  can  not  affect  market 
prices  for  those  goods,  and  consequently  is  harmless  in  the  matter  of  competition. 
But  the  whole  amount  of  such  supplies  is  very  small  compared  with  the  producing 
capacities  of  the  prisons  of  the  State.  The  average  annual  cost  of  all  the  clothing, 
boots  and  shoes,  bedding,  and  dry  goods  used  by  all  the  charitable  institutions  of 
the  State,  for  ten  years  prior  to  1885,  was  $42,878;  and  for  furniture,  the  average 
annual  expenditure  for  the  same  period  was  $13,263.  The  cost  of  all  the  clothing, 
boots  and  shoes,  and  bedding  for  the  penitentiary  at  Joliet  in  1884  was  $15,957, 
and  at  Chester,  §5,836,  or,  in  round  numbers,  $78,000  per  annum  covers  the  total 
cost  to  the  State  of  the  class  of  supplies  it  is  proposed  to  manufacture  in  prisons." 

The  Department  of  Labor  in  its  second  annual  report  (1886)  came  to  practically 
the  same  conclusion  as  the  Illinois  bureau,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  quotation: 

"If  our  State  governments  supported  large  bodies  of  troops  and  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment had  a  large  standing  army  the  plan  might  have  some  force  in  it,  although 


56  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

in  some  European  countries,  where  the  consumption  of  goods  of  the  coarser 
grades,  such  as  shoes  and  army  clothing,  camp  equipage,  harnesses,  etc.,  is  very 
large,  the  plan  has  not  been  made  to  work  very  successfully,  on  account  of  the 
objections  of  army  officers  to  the  manufacture  in  prisons  of  the  goods  they  require 
for  the  equipment  of  their  forces,  the  objections  arising,  not  only  on  account  of 
the  quality  and  make  of  the  goods,  but  on  account  of  the  impracticability  of 
massing  a  force  in  any  way  so  as  to  supply  goods  upon  emergencies.  The  experi- 
ence of  these  countries,  however,  is  worth  but  little  in  the  United  States,  for  the 
same  conditions  do  not  exist.  If  each  State  should  supply  all  its  wants ,  so  far  as  the 
kinds  of  goods  that  are  usually  made  in  prisons  are  concerned,  the  result  would 
be  the  employment  of  but  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  convicts  of  the  State.  In  Illi- 
nois this  amount  of  employment  could  have  been  utilized  last  year  to  the  extent 
of  less  than  $50,000,  and  this  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  demands  of  other  States.  It 
is  urged,  however,  that  the  United  States  Government  requires  supplies  sufficient 
to  warrant  the  constant,  or  nearly  constant,  employment  of  the  convicts  of 
the  different  States  under  contracts  which  might  be  made  by  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments requiring  the  goods.  An  examination  of  these  wants  shows  that  the  entire 
expenditures  of  all  the  executive  departments  of  the  United  States  Government  for 
furniture,  clothing,  mail-bags,  harnesses,  wagons,  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery 
equipments,  clothing  for  the  Indian  service,  etc.,  and  for  such  other  things  as  are 
now  made  in  the  different  prisons  of  the  various  States,  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1886,  amounted  to  a  sum  a  little  less  than  $4,000,000,  while  the  total 
product  of  the  prisons  of  the  country  amounted  for  that  year  substantially  to 
$29,000,000.  This  answers  the  suggestion  completely.  If  it  could  be  adopted, 
however,  competition  in  the  wages  of  labor  and  in  the  price  of  goods  would  be 
avoided,  although  the  individual  concerns  now  manufacturing  the  goods  used  by 
the  Government  would  lose  that  much  trade,  which  would  also  result  in  the  loss 
of  so  much  labor." 

The  Commissioner  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  and  Industrial  Statistics  of  Wiscon- 
sin, in  his  biennial  report,  submitted  in  September,  1886,  commented  unfavorably 
on  this  system  of  employing  convicts,  stating  that — 

"Another  class  believes  our  penal  population  should  be  employed  in  manufac- 
turing the  clothing,  hosiery,  caps,  boots,  and  shoes  required  by  the  inmates  of  our 
various  institutions.  For  obvious  reasons  our  delinquent  and  insane,  attending 
no  soirees,  weddings,  funerals,  or  operas,  use  but  a  small  amount  of  clothing,  and 
that  of  the  very  plainest  character,  to  make  which  would  not  keep  50  persons  busy 
during  the  year,  while  we  actually  have  about  2,200  in  our  asylums,  the  institute 
for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  the  reform  school ;  and  they  can  not  be  deprived  of 
employment  without  serious  results.  Probably  those  who  favor  this  plan  do  not 
understand  how  the  work  done  by  convicts  and  delinquents  in  Wisconsin  is 
already  varied." 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  working  convicts  in  this  manner  may  not  furnish 
sufficient  work  for  their  constant  employment,  the  trend  of  the  best  thought  on 
the  subject  appears  to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  the  proper  method  of 
employment,  and  also  that  if  the  system  is  properly  developed  in  all  of  its  details, 
that  not  only  sufficient  employment  will  be  found,  but  employment  that  will  in 
the  end  result  in  greater  benefit  to  the  State  than  can  be  reached  under  any  other 
system. 

The  abrogation  of  power  machinery  and  the  adoption  of  hand  methods  is  com- 
mented on  favorably  by  the  directors  of  penal  institutions  and  others,  especially 
where  the  intention  is  the  reformation  of  the  criminal  rather  than  the  raising  of 
revenue  for  the  State.  The  adoption  of  hand  methods  in  the  mamifacture  of  sup- 
plies for  State  use  would  tend  to  an  increase  of  the  amount  of  labor  necessary  to 
produce  a  given  amount  of  product  and  be  of  lasting  benefit  to  the  convict.  Its 
adoption  is  advocated  in  the  third  annual  report  of  the  commission  of  prisons  of 
New  York,  which  states  that  "  the  commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  nearly  all 
manufactured  supplies  heretofore  purchased  by  the  State  institutions  in  the  open 
market  can  be  produced  to  advantage  by  the  convict  labor  in  the  prison ;  and 
that  when  the  use  of  all  power-saving  machinery  shall  have  been  discontinued 
the  manufacture  of  these  supplies  will  furnish  a  reasonable  amount  of  productive 
labor  for  the  convicts  in  the  prisons." 


PRISON    LABOR.  57 

The  warden  of  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania,  in  commenting  on  the 
system  of  hand  work  in  vogue  in  that  institution,  states  that — 

"  Handmade  articles,  shaped  and  fashioned  with  hand  tools  without  the  aid  of 
power  machinery,  is  the  most  intelligent  method  of  employing  prisoners  for  their 
future  benefit,  besides  giving  them  that  physical  exertion  necessary  to  their  con- 
dition of  health. 

"We  teach  trades,  not  as  a  punishment,  but  as  an  incentive  to  reform,  and  to 
give  the  idea  to  the  prisoner  that  an  honest  life  is  best  secured  by  industry. 
Industrial  mechanical  training,  without  the  aid  of  any  artificial  power  other  than 
the  physical  force  of  the  individual,  educates  both  the  mental  and  physical  facul- 
ties, keeping  the  mind  constantly  active  in  guiding  the  hand  that  fashions  the 
article  being  produced.  When  the  worker  has  a  share  of  the  production  of  his 
head  and  hands  he  feels  an  independence  and  a  self-sustaining  power  within  him- 
self that  enables  him  to  contemplate  his  future  without  fear  of  being  dependent 
on  charity." 

Another  objection  to  the  system  is  that  it  is  impracticable  to  produce  all,  or 
the  larger  part  of  the  supplies  required  for  the  different  institutions,  because  of 
the  great  diversity  of  industries  that  it  would  necessitate.  But  convicts  in  the 
different  States  are  now  engaged  under  the  contract,  piece-price,  or  public- 
account  systems  in  manufacturing  practically  all  of  the  different  varieties  of 
supplies  required  in  public  institutions.  If  their  labor  can  be  utilized  in  this 
manner  for  the  benefit  of  private  individuals  it  is  useless  to  assert  that  it  can 
not  be  so  utilized  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

In  order  to  perfect  such  a  system,  it  is  essential  that  the  industries  in  all  of  the 
prisons  and  reformatories  in  each  State  should  be  under  the  direction  of  a  central 
office.  The  necessity  for  such  an  office  is  referred  to  in  the  second  and  third 
annual  reports  of  the  commission  of  prisons  of  New  York,  as  follows. 

"The  manufacture  of  supplies  in  prisons  would  be  greatly  facilitated  by  the 
division  of  State  institutions  and  departments  into  groups  or  classes,  and  the 
establishment  of  standard,  uniform  qualities,  kinds,  and  patterns  of  supplies  for 
each  group.  The  convicts  in  the  State  prisons  are  now  as  fully  employed  during 
the  working  hours  as  under  the  old  contract  system.  The  State  will  be  the 
gainer,  as  it  will  receive  the  full  value  of  the  labor  of  the  convicts  and  whatever 
profit  there  is,  instead  of  substantially  losing  the  value  of  that  labor." 

In  the  fourth  annual  report  of  the  same  commission  it  is  stated  that — 

"  Prior  to  1894  there  was  but  little  connection  between  the  many  penal  institu- 
tions in  the  State,  and  there  was  no  single  body  or  department  haying  even  an 
advisory  power  as  to  all  of  them.  The  three  State  prisons  of  Sing  Sing,  Auburn, 
and  Clinton  were  purely  penal  institutions  for  the  confinement  of  those  con- 
victed of  felonies,  under  the  control  of  the  superintendent  of  State  prisons.  The 
State  reformatory,  started  in  1886  as  an  experiment  in  reform  methods  with 
those  under  30  years  of  age  under  first  convictions  for  felony,  and  which  had 
proved  so  successful  that  it  was  the  most  populous  institution,  was  under  a 
board  of  managers,  as  were  each  of  the  two  houses  of  refuge  for  women,  at 
Hudson  and  Albion.  The  penitentiaries,  which  had  grown  from  county  jails  into 
great  penal  institutions,  were  not  State  institutions,  but  were  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  board  of  supervisors  or  commissioners  of  correction  and  charities  in 
6  counties  in  which  were  situated  the  6  largest  cities  of  the  State,  to  wit:  Erie, 
at  Buffalo;  Monroe,  at  Rochester;  Onondaga,  at  Syracuse;  Albany,  at  Albany; 
New  York,  at  Blackwell's  Island,  and  Kings,  at  Brooklyn. 

"  That  these  several  institutions,  differing  in  their  systems  of  treatment  of  pris- 
oners, or  in  the  class  of  prisoners  consigned  to  them,  should  be  under  different 
management  was  undoubtedly  proper,  considering  the  original  purposes  of  each 
class  of  institutions.  The  houses  of  refuge  for  the  reformation  of  women  should 
undoubtedly  be  under  a  management  different  from  that  of  purely  penal  institu- 
tions, for  their  purpose  was,  py  education  and  training,  to  reclaim  the  fallen. 
The  State  reformatory  at  Elmira  was  intended  for  the  reclaiming  of  the  younger 
lawbreakers,  who  could  not  be  properly  classed  as  hardened  or  incorrigible 
criminals.  Its  system  of  compulsory  education  in  schools  of  letters  and  of  trades, 
accompanied  by  training  in  morals  and  habits  that  would  tend  to  make  good  citi- 


58  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

zens  of  the  untrained  youths,  naturally  required  different  management  from  that 
of  the  purely  penal  institutions. 

"  The  penitentiaries  were  originally  intended  as  enlarged  jails  for  the  confine- 
ment and  punishment  of  misdemeanants  only2  under  the  general  policy  of  the  law 
which  left  to  each  county  the  care  and  maintenance  of  those  convicted  of  misde- 
meanor ,  who  are  usually  referred  to  as  "  j  ail  prisoners, ' '  as  distinguished  from  those 
convicted  of  felony  who  were  cared  for  in  the  State  penal  institution. 

"However,  to  make  a  complete  system  of  these  parts,  and  that  all  might  run 
smoothly  together,  a  supervisory  or  advisory  board  with  some  jurisdiction  or  power 
of  inspection  and  recommendation  over  all  classes  of  penal  institutions  were  nat- 
urally required.  Such  a  board  or  authority  did  not  exist  until  the  adoption  of  the 
revised  constitution,  sections  11  to  15  of  article  8  of  which  created  a  '  commission 
of  prisons,  which  should  visit  and  inspect  all  institutions  used  for  the  detention 
of  sane  adults  charged  with  or  convicted  of  crime  or  detained  as  witnesses  or 
debtors.'  The  legislature  was  directed  to  make  provision  for  such  commission 
and  to  confer  upon  it  any  additional  powers  not  inconsistent  with  the  constitution. 

"  The  legislature  of  1895,  by  chapter  1026  of  the  laws  of  that  year,  provided  for 
the  commission,  fixed  its  membership,  and  defined  its  powers.  Among  the  duties 
of  the  commission  it  was  charged  to  visit  and  inspect  all  institutions  used  for  the 
detention  of  sane  adults  charged  with  or  convicted  of  crime  or  detained  as  wit- 
nesses or  debtors;  to  aid  in  securing  the  just,  humane,  and  economic  administra- 
tion of  such  institutions;  to  aid  in  securing  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings  for 
such  institutions,  and  to  approve  or  reject  plans  for  their  construction  or  improve- 
ment; to  investigate  the  management  of  all  such  institutions,  to  collect  statistical 
information  in  respect  to  them  and  their  management  and  inmates,  and  to  ascer- 
tain and  recommend  a  system  of  employing  the  inmates  in  accordance  with  the 
constitution  and  the  public  interests,  and  to  make  an  annual  report  to  the  legis- 
lature of  its  proceedings,  with  such  information  and  opinions  as  it  should  deem 
proper. 

"The  commission  entered  upon  its  duties  at  once,  and  in  1895  inspected  the  insti- 
tutions and  devised  a  system  for  the  employment  of  convicts  in  accord  with  the 
revised  constitution.  The  first  annual  report  was  presented  to  the  legislature  in 
January,  1896,  and  by  that  report  the  result  of  the  commission's  investigation  was 
stated,  and  it  recommended  the  system  of  employment  of  convicts  which  it  had 
devised,  and  also  several  amendments  to  the  laws  relating  to  penal  institutions 
and  to  crime. 

"A  board  of  classification  is  made  a  part  of  the  system.  The  board  fixes  the 
price  of  the  articles  manufactured  in  the  penal  institutions,  and  to  aid  in  the 
manufacture  has  made  a  division  of  the  State  institutions  and  the  departments 
into  groups,  and  established  standard  or  uniform  qualities,  kinds,  and  patterns 
for  each  group.  The  prices  fixed  are  as  near  the  usual  market  price  for  the  articles 
as  possible,  and  the  board  meets  monthly  at  the  office  of  the  commission  to  revise 
its  work  or  add  to  it,  or  hear  complaints,  if  there  are  any. 

"  The  board  of  classification  commenced  its  work  and  called  together  represent- 
atives of  all  public  institutions  and  departments  and  made  the  necessary  group- 
ing, and  provided  for  a  uniform  class  of  manufacture  for  each  group,  and  fixed 
the  prices  of  all  articles.  An  illustrated  catalogue  was  then  made  up,  showing 
the  articles  and  kind  of  articles  and  the  prices,  similar  to  the  illustrated  cata- 
logues of  other  manufacturers.  Copies-of  this  catalogue  were  placed  in  the  hands 
of  all  institutions  and  departments,  so  they  were  informed  of  what  they  could 
and  must  order  of  the  prison  department.  It  was  also  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
auditing  officers,  so  they  could  see  at  once  on  the  presentation  of  a  bill  whether 
it  was  for  goods  that  should  have  been  purchased  of  the  prisonment  department. 

"  There  had  been  no  classification  or  grading  of  convicts  in  the  State  prisons. 
The  prison  law  of  1897  provided  for  a  classification  into  three  grades.  The  first  grade 
should  be  composed  of  those  who  appeared  to  be  the  most  susceptible  to  reform, 
and  they  were  to  be  employed  in  trades'  classes  and  instructive  industries  without 
regard  to  the  productiveness  of  their  labor.  In  the  second  grade  should  be  those 
who  appeared  to  be  less  susceptible  to  reformatory  treatment,  and  yet  not  instib- 
ordinate  or  particularly  vicious,  employed  primarily  in  productive  industries 
with  instruction.  The  third  grade,  to  be  composed  of  the  incorrigible,  vicious, 
and  insubordinate,  was  to  be  kept  in  confinement  or  at  such  labor  as  practicable. 
Provision  was  made  for  transfers  from  one  grade  to  another  as  an  inducement  to 
progress.  The  State  superintendent  was  also  authorized  to  keep  the  grades  sepa- 
rate, and  to  transfer  from  one  prison  to  another,  to  the  end  that  each  prison  might 
contain  all  of  one  grade,  and  thus  make  a  first-grade  prison  and  a  second  and 
a  third  grade  prison. 


PRISON   LABOR.  59 

"  Undoubtedly  the  plan  of  having  the  commission  as  an  advisory  board  with 
many  necessary  powers,  and  with  jurisdiction  extending  over  all  the  previously 
disconnected  institutions,  has  resulted  in  much  good  and  in  saving  large  sums  of 
money  to  the  State.  There  are  no  more  appeals  to  the  legislature  to  forbid  the 
manufacture  of  goods  in  the  prisons,  for  manufacturers  and  their  employees 
acquiesce  in  the  system  which  ends  unfair  competition  and  gives  to  the  State 
the  full  value  of  the  labor  of  the  convicts  it  must  maintain  in  reduction  of  ex- 
penses and  taxation.  The  purchasing  officials  and  institutions  are  relieved  from 
the  importunity  of  local  tradesmen  and  the  goods  are  purchased  for  their  actual 
value.  There  is  no  opportunity  for  speculation  by  purchasing  agents,  and  no 
charges  of  jobbery  or  peculation  can  well  be  brought  against  them." 


CHAPTER   IV. 


FINANCIAL  RESULTS. 

The  concensus  of  opinion  appears  to  be  that  no  system  has  been  devised  for  the 
employment  of  convicts  whereby  the  labor  of  the  prison  population  can  be  made 
to  produce  a  revenue  for  the  State  over  and  above  the  expense  incident  to  their 
support.  It  is  contended  that  the  exceptions  to  this  rule  are  to  be  found  in  the 
lease  and  the  various  forms  of  the  contract  system,  but  the  financial  success  of 
these  methods  is  by  no  means  uniform.  If  all  conditions  are  favorable,  they  may 
meet  with  profitable  results,  but  the  experience  has  been  that  such  results  can 
not  be  relied  upon  with  uniformity  for  any  series  of  years. 

The  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Department  of  Labor  of  the  United  States 
on  convict  labor  gives  the  financial  results  of  the  industrial  operations  at  all  of  the 
institutions  of  severe  penalties  in  the  different  States  during  the  fiscal  year  ending 
in  1886.  The  general  summary  of  all  the  reports  is  presented  in  the  following 
statement: 

Recapitulation  for  the  United  States  by  systems. 


System  of  work. 

Income. 

Expenses. 

Labor  of 
convicts. 

All  other 
sources. 

Total. 

Running 
expenses. 

All  other 
expenses. 

Total. 

Public  account.. 
Contract 

$545,152.76 
1,610,499.6* 
197,218.34 
311,966.38 
848,132.38 

32,695,237.26 
1,574,751.79 
841,  180.  65 
97,888.40 
2,608,213.45 

$3,240,390.02 
3,185,251.43 
1,038.398.99 
409,854.78 
3,456,345.83 

$1,688,317.54 
2,462,929.57 
840,002.82 
83,831.05 
2,025,023.64 

$1,342,808.35 
434.849.19 
91,075.04 
32,871.55 
1,089,831.10 

$3,031,125.89 
2,897,778.76 
931,077.86 
116,702.60 
3,114,854.74 

Piece  price  

Mixed  

Grand  total. 

3,512,969.50 

7,817,271.55 

11,330,241.05 

7,100,104.62 

2,991,435.23 

10,091,539.85 

"  The  amounts  shown  in  the  above  statement  as  derived  from  the  labor  of  con- 
victs under  the  contract,  piece-price,  and  lease  systems  are  the  sums  paid  by  the 
contractors  and  the  lessees.  In  the  public-account  system  the  amounts  paid  for 
raw  materials  are  deducted  from  the  amounts  received  from  sales  and  the 
remainders  considered  as  representing  the  income  from  labor  of  convicts.  This 
process  will  not,  of  course,  in  all  cases  give  proper  results,  since  goods  might  be 
kept  in  stock  beyond  the  close  of  a  year  awaiting  a  better  market  or  advantage 
might  be  taken  of  low  rates  for  raw  material  t9  lay  in  more  than  a  year's  supply, 
but  it  was  the  only  process  available,  and  it  is  believed  that  even  if  it  fails  to 
express  the  exact  truth  for  some  individual  institutions,  the  general  results  tor 
all  working  under  the  public-account  system  are  correct. 

"  All  institutions  running  under  each  of  the  systems  purely  have  been  sum- 
marized separately,  then  a  line  given  to  all  institutions  where  various  systems 
exist  as  '  mixed  system,'  and  by  this  division  it  is  found  that  under  the  contract 
system,  involving  all  penal  institutions  in  the  United  States  carrying  on  its  indus- 
tries under  that  system,  the  income  from  labor  constitutes  65  per  cent  of  the  run- 
ning expenses,  and  56  per  cent  of  the  total  expenses  of  the  same  institutions. 
Under  the  public-account  system,  the  income  from  labor  constitutes  82  per  cent 
of  the  running  expenses,  and  18  per  cent  of  the  total  expenses  of  the  institutions 
conducted  under  that  system.  Under  the  piece-price  system,  labor  pays  23  per 
cent  of  the  running  expenses,  and  21  per  cent  of  the  total  expenses.  Under  the 
lease  system,  labor  constitutes  372  per  cent  of  the  running  expenses,  and  267  per 
cent  of  the  total  expenses;  while  in  those  institutions  in  which  two  or  more  sys- 
tems prevail,  labor  comprehends  42  per  cent  of  the  running  expenses  and  27  per 
cent  of  the  total  expenses.  In  this  calculation  the  term  '  total  expenses '  means  all 
60 


PRISON    LABOR. 


61 


expenses  for  repairs,  construction,  etc.,  beyond  purely  current  running  expenses. 
Under  the  lease  system,  the  total  receipts  of  the  State  leasing  its  prisoners  are 
profits,  there  being  no  running  expenses  beyond  the  payment  of  a  few  salaries. 
In  all  the  institutions  of  the  country  the  total  labor  income  is  49  per  cent  of  the 
running  expenses  and  35  per  cent  of  the  total  expenses  of  all  the  institutions. 
Eliminating  the  facts  relating  to  the  lease  system,  the  income  from  labor  is  46  per 
cent  of  the  running  expenses  and  32  per  cent  of  the  total  expenses. 

"  The  total  running  expenses  of  the  different  institutions,  as  shown  by  the  table, 
for  the  year  are  $7,100,104.62.  The  total  running  expenses  of  the  lease  system 
are  shown  to  be  but  $83,831.  It  should  be  remembered  that  this  latter  sum  repre- 
sents the  expense  to  the  States  in  which  the  lease  system  is  carried  on.  It  does 
not,  of  course,  include  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  prisoners  themselves,  since 
they  are  maintained  by  the  lessee.  The  sum  of  the  total  running  expenses  of  all 
prisons,  then,  should  be  increased,  in  order  to  get  at  the  total  expense  of  maintain- 
ing the  prisoners  of  the  country  in  those  institutions  where  convict  labor  is  util- 
ized. It  was  impossible,  however,  to  obtain  from  lessees  the  expense  of  main- 
taining the  prisoners  leased  to  them;  but  from  the  best  possible  estimates,  based 
upon  positive  facts  and  upon  averages  relating  to  the  maintenance  of  prisons 
under  other  systems,  it  is  concluded  that  the  total  expenses  of  maintaining  the 
9,104  leased  convicts  are  about  $1,345,000.  The  aggregate  running  expenses  of  all 
prisons  in  all  systems  should  be  increased  by  this  sum,  giving  a  total  of 
$8,445,104.62,  or,  in  round  numbers,  $8,500,000.  The  total  institution  expenses, 
as  shown  by  the  table,  $10,091,539.85,  should  be  increased  to  the  same  extent;  so 
that  the  total  of  all  expenses  of  the  prisons  would  be  $11,436,539.85." 

The  per  capita  cost  per  annum  and  per  diem  of  maintaining  convicts  under  the 
public-account,  piece-price,  and  contract  systems  in  institutions  of  severe  penalties 
during  the  year  1886  is  shown  in  the  following  comparative  statement.  The 
average  yearly  cost  under  the  public-account  system  is  shown  to  have  been  $232.45; 
under  the  piece-price,  $180.18,  and  under  the  contract,  $126.47. 


System. 

Number 
of 
convicts. 

Running 
expenses. 

Per  capita. 

Yearly. 

Daily. 

Public-account  

3,075 
1,892 
15,347 

$714,790.93 
340,906.74 
1,940,873.56 

$232.45 
180.18 
126.47 

$0.637 
.494 
.346 

Piece-price 

Contract  

Total  and  average                

20,314 

2,996,571.23 

147.  51 

.404 

The  above  statements  may  be  accepted  as  showing,  with  reasonable  accuracy, 
the  general  financial  results  of  convict  labor  as  conducted  under  the  different 
systems  during  the  year  1886. 

Since  1886  no  extended  investigation  has  been  made  of  the  industrial  operations 
of  penal  institutions  of  the  entire  country  with  the  view  of  securing  comparative 
data  as  to  the  financial  results. 

Realizing  the  necessity  of  more  recent  information  on  this  important  phase  of 
the  subject,  the  commission  has  secured  data  from  institutions  in  some  of  the 
representative  States,  which  are  presented  in  the  following  statements.  These 
statements  are  compiled  from  the  report,  or  data,  furnished  by  the  different  insti- 
tutions. These  reports  were  not  prepared  on  uniform  lines,  but  were  intended  to 
present  particular  facts  that  were  desired  in  each  instance.  The  statements  for 
one  State  should  not  be  used  for  the  purpose  ol  exact  comparison  with  those  for 
any  other  State,  nor  can  they,  uniformly,  be  accepted  as  accurate  presentations 
of  the  facts  they  purport  to  show.  With  this  caution  the  commission  presents  the 
following  information  relative  to  the  financial  results  of  the  convict  labor  at  the 
institutions  named: 

ALABAMA. 

The  majority  of  the  convicts  are  employed  under  the  lease  and  public-account 
system.  The  financial  transaction  of  the  entire  system  for  the  two  years  ending 
August  31,  1898,  are  summarized  as  follows: 


62  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

EARNINGS  AND  CREDITS. 

Cash  on  hand,  etc.,  September  1,  1896 __  $52,924.38 

Hire  of  convicts - 277,081.24 

Proceeds  of  cotton  mill . 28, 778. 85 

Forfeitures  for  escapes 2, 800. 00 

Sale  of  brick 8,807.82 

Rent  of  land 322.00 

Interest 3,237.97 

Sundries - 4,178.22 


Total 378,120.48 

Net  profit .. 189,000.84 

DISBURSEMENTS   AND   DEBITS. 


Salaries $51,797.54 

Traveling  expenses 2, 363. 14 

Transportation 5,257.73 


Improvement $7, 431 . 68 

Livestock 2,268.00 

Seed  . .  609. 59 


Express .-          193.41  |  Arms  and  ammunition.   ...          310.05 


Freight.. 2,775.11 

Drayage 1 57. 08 

Telegrams 292. 26 

Sundry  expense 4, 336. 40 

House  ware  and  furniture. .  1, 027. 13 

Printing  and  stationery 1, 107. 37 

Hospital 3, 767. 73 

Clothing  and  shoes 15,371.82 

Provisions 25,840.86 

Feed... 541.59 

Fuel  and  lights 2,770.28 

Bedding 45. 00 

Implements  and  tools -  1 , 930. 55 


Postage. 508.15 

Tobacco 19.62 

Escapes  and  rewards 602. 07 

Cost  bills 52,457.14 

Heal  estate 319.20 

Cotton 404.87 

Rent I... 30.00 

Religious  literature 294. 89 

Reform  school 89. 28 

Fertilizer 4, 209. 30 

To  balance 189,000.84 


378, 120. 48 


The  financial  showing  for  the  State  cotton  mill,  which  is  operated  under  the 
public-account  system,  is  given  as  follows: 

Disbursements  and  debits. 

Alabama  cotton-mill  plant _  _ $78, 347. 77 

Machinery .          $32.81 

Material 212.43 

Repairs 809 . 82 

Salaries 5,845.90 

Fuel -. 2,672.33 

Oil.. .: 386.16 

Sundry  expense 1,919.20 

Cotton.. 30,294.05 

Freight 814. 46 

42, 987. 16 


121,334.93 

Net  profit  to  balance 9, 817. 16 

$131,152.09 

Earnings  and  credits. 

Alabama  cotton-mill  plant $78, 347. 77 

Proceeds  sale  of  cloth,  cash — treasury $27, 701. 76 

Proceeds  of  the  mill  on  hand  unsold 25, 102. 56 

52,804.32 

$131,152.09 

Net  profits  for  12  months  ' 9,817.16 

ARKANSAS. 

Convicts  are  employed  under  the  lease  or  contract  system,  also  in  working  farms 
on  the  share-crop  plan  and  in  raising  prodiicts  for  sale  and  manufacturing  under 
the  public-account  system. 

1  The  mill  has  been  operated  about  12  months  since  it  began  operations,  January  1.  1897,  and 
shows  a  profit  of  $9,817.16,  not  including  any  allowance  for  labor. 


PRISON    LABOR.  63 

The  financial  statement  for  the  penitentiary  for  the  years  1897  and  1898  is  sum- 
marized as  follows: 


RECEIPTS. 


State  treasury,  penitentiary  fund $236, 000. 00 

Hire  of  convicts 16,873.15 

Inside  industries,  gate  receipts,  sales,  etc 48, 135. 29 

Sale  of  farm  products 161 , 961 . 47 


Total.... 462,969.91 

DISBURSEMENTS. 

Clothing  and  bedding  ._ $19,278.33 

Freight,  express,  etc 20, 843. 28 

Hospital  account. 2,371.48 

Salaries  account 60,626.30 

Discharged  convict  account 1, 838. 00 

Walls  and  commissary  accotint 30, 328. 18 

Subsistence  account 56, 262. 40 

Transportation  account 6, 591. 51 

Reward  account 1,038.05 

Miscellaneous  expenses 6,  795. 66 

Paid  State  treasurer 246, 692. 79 

Refunded  on  share  croppers 10, 303. 93 

Total _. 462,969.91 

The  report  of  the  institution  states  that  during  the  past  5  years  there  has  been  no 
appropriation  of  money  for  the  maintenance  of  the  penitentiary;  also  that  on  Janu- 
ary 1,1897,  there  was  in  the  State  treasury,  belonging  to  the  penitentiary,  $35,211.44, 
and  in  addition  thereto  400  bales  of  cotton  unsold.  There  is  now  in  the  State 
treasury,  belonging  to  the  penitentiary  fund,  $46,310.66,  and  in  addition  there  are 
at  the  walls,  at  the  various  camps,  and  in  the  fields  yet  to  gather,  conservatively 
estimated,  1,500  bales  of  cotton  belonging  to  the  penitentiary.  Estimating  this 
cotton  and  the  seed  from  the  same  at  $25  per  bale,  when  sold,  it  will  increase  our 
cash  balance  $37,500,  and  the  total  to  $85,810.66.  In  this  estimate  I  have  not  taken 
into  account  such  of  the  live  stock  and  agricultural  products  as  will  be  used  by  the 
penitentiary.  In  addition  to  the  general  expense  of  running  the  penitentiary,  and 
the  amount  paid  for  the  increased  number  of  mules,  wagons,  and  agricultural 
implements,  we  have  paid  in  excess  of  the  $12,500  appropriated  by  the  legislature 
in  1897  for  the  establishment  of  the  State  electric-lighting  plant  about  $5,000  out 
of  the  penitentiary  fund,  and  there  has  also  been  established  an  excelsior  plant  in 
the  walls  at  a  cost  of  about  $3,000. 

These  statements  clearly  show  that  the  penitentiary  has  been  more  than  self- 
sustaining  during  the  past  two  years. 

COLORADO. 

In  response  to  a  request  for  data  covering  the  financial  operations  of  the  peniten- 
tiary, the  warden  furnished  the  following  statement,  under  date  of  June  24,  1899: 

"It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  give  you  any  such  financial  statement  as  you  ask 
for,  as  in  this  State  we  have  never  had  the  contract  system.  Our  work  here  is 
most  on  the  farm,  besides  which  we  cut  considerable  stone  and  burn  lime  (our 
prison  being  situated  on  stone  and  lime  quarries)  and  make  brick.  As  to  giving 
actual  cash  received  from  the  convicts'  labor,  it  would  be  impossible,  as,  while 
the  products  of  our  farm  go  toward  the  maintenance  of  the  prison,  they  are  not 
taken  into  account  as  a  cash  receipt.  The  cash  received  from  our  other  products; 
lime,  stone,  and  brick,  depends  upon  the  general  business  situation  of  the  State, 
more  especially  as  to  our  lime  sales.  For  instance,  in  1887-88  our  cash  receipts 
were  a  little  over  $80 ,000 ,  or ,  say ,  $40 ,000  per  year ;  but  they  have  steadil  y  decreased 
since  that  time,  until  during  the  years  1897-98  our  receipts  from  these  sources 
amounted  to  less  than  $10.000  per  year. 


64 


UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 


The  supportof  this  institution,  over  and  above  the  earnings  of  the  prisoners,  cost 
the  State  about  $90.000  per  year ;  and,  with  the  object  of  reducing  this  expense, 
and  making  the  prison  self-supporting,  or  at  least  partially  so,  I  have  been  endeav- 
oring to  induce  eastern  contractors  to  establish  a  manufacturing  enterprise  within 
our  walls,  but  the  contract  has  not  yet  been  closed." 

CONNECTICUT. 

With  the  exception  of  farm  work  the  convicts  are  employed  almost  entirely 
under  the  contract  system,  and  the  following  tables  taken  from  the  report  of 
the  State  prison,  show  the  financial  operations  of  the  institution  during  the  years 
1896, 1897,  and  1898. 

EXPENSES. 


Accounts 

Year  ending  Sept.  30— 

1896. 

1897. 

1898. 

First-grade  provisions        

$1,378.59 
12,382.47 
370.51 
40y.79 
4.15 
27.15 
538.21 
5,365.11 
300.28 
316.84 
154.94 
8,605.99 
1,974.37 
191.07 
31,  158.  70 
217.65 
3,991.15 
6,406.37 
1,973.21 
155.00 
21.55 
15.00 
1,347.33 
50.00 
5,774.13 
12,090.57 
25,425.67 
1,470.00 

$2,372.13 

13,568.71 
378.35 
515.46 
80.86 

Second  and  third  grade  provisions 

$11,646.75 
632.47 
423.70 
12.50 
65.55 

Chapel 

Prisoners'  tobacco 

Amusement    , 

Night  school 

Live  stock 

Clothing  and  bedding  -  

3,804.68 
200.47 
256.82 
296.97 
7,597.84 

1,092.02 
181.97 
47.47 
70.98 
7,805.75 
113.61 
470.27 
36,309.93 

Prison  furniture 

Officers'  n".arters 

Blacksmiths'  and  tinners'  tools  and  supplies  

Fuel,  light,  and  water 

Electric  plant  .                        

Furnishing  warden's  house 

332.  78 
27,304.44 
34.76 
4,179.11 
3,422.70 
1,932.93 

Salaries  ."  ..                                     

Uniforms 

Expenses 

4,360.69 
2,045.49 
3,  754.  38 
235.00 
58.53 
32.30 
1,387.15 

Permanent  improvements  and  repairs..  

Prison  supplies  ,  

TnsnrnncA                                                                                  

Advertising 

43.35 
28.69 
1,086.21 

Transportation  of  convicts 

Medicine  

Gas  plant 

Warden's  provisions                                        .  .                      ... 

5,512.83 
19,950.66 

8,293.65 
875.  67 
10,859.38 
345.00 

West-end  appropriation 

Insane-  ward  appropriation 

Engines  and  boilers  .         

Office  furnit/nrfl 

141.21 
7,649.72 

Storehouse  and  kitchen                                  .... 

Farm  account 

1,224.86 

Total... 

96.560.14 

122.115.80 

96.479.61 

RECEIPTS. 


Furnishing  dirf«?t,nrs'  room 

$250.45 
24,845.00 
37.08 
209.04 
31.00 
1,500.00 
118.75 
1,145.86 
42,967.84 
1,230.29 

$2.35 
45,877.91 
196.94 
188.20 
53.65 
612.50 
169.53 
1,338.18 
43,  755.  77 

Buildings  and  land 

$32,713.21 
476.  74 
209.04 
52.00 
1,427.54 
141.32 
1,041.37 
40,  157.  15 
615.25 
28.24 
562.00 
100.00 
1,000.00 

Library 

Rent.        .                                                                           

Fines  ...           

Motive  power 

Sales  

TTnit,f>d  States  ffnvemmpmt 

Convict  labor  .                      

Farm 

Live  stock 

160.21 

Engines  and  boilers 

Oas  plant  _...„-. 

Electric  plant  

Night  school                                                   .      .  

11.40 
114.56 
36.47 
3,961.83 

Uniforms  - 

Printing                                                          .  

Balance  State  of  Connecticut 

18,036.28 

49,780.49 

Total... 

96.560.14 

122.  115.  80 

96.479.61 

ILLINOIS. 

Convicts  are  employed  largely  under  the  public-account  system.  The  warden 
of  the  penitentiary  at  Joliet  states  that  during  the  year  1898  there  was  a  total 
loss  on  the  business  of  the  different  industries  of  $69,298.43,  and  that  to  this  should 
be  added  $50,198.94,  the  cost  of  the  maintenance  of  prisoners,  making  a  total 
of  $119,497.37. 


PRISON    LABOtt. 


65 


The  following  statement  covers  the  operations  of  the  penitentiary  for  the  year 
ending  September  30,  18'J8 : 

Partition  statement  of  cash  received  and  expended  at  Illinois  State  penitentiary 
during  the  year  ending  September  30,  1898. 


Items. 

Receipts. 

Expenses. 

Broom  department 

$251  83 

Chair  department  

36  847  62 

$716  09 

Harness  department 

149  a56  14 

7  572  48 

Cooper  department  

20,018  70 

2  114  26 

Cigar  department  .     .. 

71.00 

834  87 

Expense  department 

3  600  93 

4  520  96 

Piece-price  department  .         

110,419.34 

Stone  department 

740  03 

2  201  83 

State  shops 

933  55 

3  498  95 

Convict  money 

4  882  03 

4  419  87 

Visitors'  fund  .  ... 

1,961.10 

Bills  receivable 

132  17 

Library  fund  

434  42 

Appropriations  

149,200.00 

Salaries  

76  348  36 

Board  of  United  States  prisoners  

3,910.10 

Parole  and  discharge  .       

8  994  90 

Purchase  of  material,  et.c 

358  337  98 

On  hand  September  30,  1897  -  

22,  463.  64 

On  hnnrl  September  30,  1898 

34  793  26 

Total  

504,  788.  23 

504,788.23 

INDIANA. 

Convicts  are  employed  almost  entirely  under  the  contract  and  piece-price  sys- 
tems. The  receipts  from  the  labor  and  the  cost  of  maintenance  at  the  different 
institutions  for  each  year  from  1893  to  1898,  inclusive,  is  shown  in  the  following 
statement  which  was  furnished  by  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  State  charities: 


: 

Institution. 

Year. 

Convict 
labor. 

Cost  of 
mainte- 
nance. 

Indiana  State  Prison  North 

became  Indiana  State  Prison  Apr. 

1893 

$110,036.27 

$99,998.00 

1,  181)7. 

1894 

104,879.43 

100,000.00 

1895 

102,296.10 

100,000.00 

1896 

91,685.63 

100,000.00 

1897 

67,965.09 

105,  162.  85 

1898 

37,892.73 

104,467.49 

Indiana  State  Prison  South  became  Indiana  Reformatory  Apr. 

1893 

63,359.11 

69,  100.  00 

1.  1897. 

1894 

50,860.59 

75,000.00 

1895 

42,431.42 

91,867.07 

1896 

45,743.93 

85,000.00 

1897 

40,468.80 

91,889.42 

1898 

50,976.01 

104,304.43 

Indiana  Woman's  Prison 

1893 

2.309.51 

a3,093.ti9 

1894 

1,848.64 

45,000.00 

1895 

933.69 

45,000.00 

1896 

972.41 

40,499.00 

1897 

886.2(5 

40,  499.  91 

18H8 

846.91          39,531.44 

IOWA. 

Convicts  in  the  penitentiary  at  Fort  Madison  were  employed  under  the  contract 
system,  and  the  following  statement,  furnished  by  the  warden,  shows  the  financial 
results  of  the  industries  for  the  two  years  ending  June  30,  1899: 

Support  from  June  30,  1897,  to  June  30,  1898 $42, 161 . 83 

Salary  of  officers,  etc 35,847.37 

—  $78,009.20 
Received  from  convict  labor -  —  —    -     35, 934. 21 

Deficiency..  42,074.99 

Support  from  June  30,  1898,  to  June  30, 1899 $42, 199. 42 

Salaries  of  officers,  etc 39.294.29 

81,493.71 

Received  from,  convict  labor 40. 704. 07 

Deficiency '  40,789.64 

1J.-,()A — VOL   II -"> 


66 


UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 


KANSAS. 

Most  of  the  convicts  at  the  penitentiary  are  engaged  in  mining  coal  to  be  sold 
on  public  account  or  consumed  in  State  institutions.  A  number  were  engaged  in 
farming  and  in  work  on  the  public  roads. 

The  warden  states  that  during  the  year  ending  June  30, 1897,  the  gross  earnings 
of  the  institution  were  $138,300.87,  while  the  total  expenditures  were  $150,131.33, 
and  during  the  year  ending  June  30,  1898,  the  gross  earnings  were  $164,345.05, 
while  the  total  expenditures  were  $148,972.26. 

KENTUCKY. 

There  are  two  penitentiaries  in  the  State,  and  the  major  portion  of  the  convicts 
at  both  are  worked  under  the  lease  or  contract  system,  or  in  the  manufacture  of 
chairs,  which  are  sold  to  a  contractor  at  a  stipulated  price.  The  report  of  the 
board  of  prison  commissioners  states  that — 

' '  It  was  soon  demonstrated  that  under  the  contracts  as  we  found  them  the  State 
was  failing  to  realize  enough  revenue  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  penitentiary 
by  thousands  of  dollars  per  annum,  as  the  following  report  of  the  warden,  who 
had  charge  during  that  time,  will  shov^.  For  the  year  ending  November  30, 1896, 
he  says  it  cost  him  $109,075.05  to  run  the  penitentiary,  and  that  he  had  an  income 
from  all  sources  amounting  to  $63,450.73,  which  left  a  deficit  for  that  year  of 
$45,624.22.  In  testifying  before  a  legislative  committee,  that  warden  said  that  he 
had  failed  to  charge  himself  with  the  amount  of  stock  on  hand  when  he  took 
charge,  which  amounted  to  $50,163.39;  this  amount  added  to  his  expense  will  show 
that  the  penitentiary  was  running  at  an  absolute  loss  of  $113,614.22  for  that  year. 

"  For  the  year  ending  November  30,  1897,  the  warden  reports  a  deficit  of  only 
$16,412.01,  but  from  his  own  report  he  had  no  basis  from  which  to  figure,  as  there 
was  no  inventory  taken.  He  estimates  that  he  had  at  the  commencement  of  that 
year  $48,393.19,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  year  $82,857.68.  But  if  it  is  as  he 
reports,  that  he  fell  behind  $16,412.01,  that,  added  to  the  $113,614.22  (the  1896 
operation) ,  will  make  a  total  for  2  years  of  $130,026.23.  The  Eddyville  Peniten- 
tiary (known  as  the  branch  penitentiary)  expended  during  those  2  years  $100,000, 
in  round  numbers,  more  than  their  income,  which  made  the  t  vo  penitentiaries 
cost  the  State  $230,026.23.  The  present  year  the  Frankfort  Penitentiary  expended 
$30,783  more  than  the  income,  while  the  Eddyville  Penitentiary  expended  $35,987.35 
more  than  income,  which  makes  a  deficit  of  $66,770.35  for  the  year  1898,  and  which 
makes  a  grand  total  of  $296,796.58  as  a  deficit  in  the  operation  of  the  two  peniten- 
tiaries for  the  past  3  years." 

MARYLAND. 

With  the  exception  of  the  comparatively  few  convicts  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  supplies  for  the  institution,  all  of  the  prisoners  at  the  penitentiary  have 
been  worked  under  the  contract  system  for  a  number  of  years.  The  following 
statement  shows  the  financial  result  of  the  industrial  operation  for  the  years 
1888  to  1898,  inclusive: 


Year. 

Average 
number 
of  prison- 
ers. 

Cost  per 
capita. 

Receipts. 

Expenses. 

Surplus 
paid  into 
the  State 
treasury. 

Amount 
earned  by 
convicts  on 
overwork 
account 
for  them- 
selves. 

1888 

567* 

$117  31 

$71  177  15 

$71  410  28 

$7  838  43 

1889 

665A 

116  61 

76  875  62 

77  595  21 

9  346  34 

1890 

687  17, 

114  45 

79  887  85 

77  896  21 

$1  991  64 

13  434  47 

1891  ..            .   ..... 

121.02 

80,093.57 

77,071  22 

3  022.35 

13  226  96 

1892 

562i 

119.08 

81  360  71 

77  663  84 

3  696  87 

11  689  79 

1893... 

6571 

116.  17 

83,099.11 

76  345  90 

8  753.21 

13  820  89 

1894 

650A 

109.  97* 

82  873  29 

71  528  05 

11  345  00 

11  451  47 

1895... 

69U 

105.771 

88,361.69 

73,145  65 

15.216.04 

14  862  26 

1896 

740} 

104.27| 

94  965  93 

77  241  48 

17  724  45 

15  378  56 

1897... 

8231 

97.381 

108,082  26 

80,210.42 

27,871.84 

23.  722.  83 

1898 

856} 

100.  08f 

114,877  72 

85  697  01 

29,  180.  71 

22  697  10 

Grand  total  of  surplus  earnings  for  the  past  nine  years  paid  into  the  State  treasury.  -  $118, 802. 11 
Grand  total  of  earnings  on  overwork  account  for  trie  past  eleven  years  by  the  convicts 
for  themselves 157,469.10 


PRISON    LABOR 
MICHIGAN. 


67 


Convicts  are  employed  under  either  the  contract  or  public-account  systems,  as 
appears  most  advantageous.  The  receipts  from  convict  labor  and  the  expenses 
of  maintenance  are  presented  as  follows: 


Receipts. 

Expenses 
for  mainte' 
nance. 

For  biennial  period  ending  June  30,  1892: 
From  contractors  

$171,179.70 

From  labor  on  public  account  

14,401.03 

Total                      

185  580  73 

$185  215  78 

For  the  biennial  period  ending  June  30,  1894: 
From  contractors  

137,810.19 

From  convict  labor  on  public  account  

30,541.89 

Total 

168  352  08 

176  463  97 

For  biennial  period  ending  June  30,  1896: 
From  contractors    __              

130  800.24 

From  labor  on  public  account 

25  198  44 

Total 

155  998  68 

180  637  53 

For  biennial  period  ending  June  30,  1898: 
From  contractors  

144,624.48 

From  labor  on  public  account  

18,510.41 

Total 

163  134  89 

175  762  43 

MINNESOTA. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  worked  under  the  piece-price  and  public- 
account  systems,  and  also  in  manufacturing  supplies  for  the  use  of  the  public 
institutions.  The  following  summary,  taken  from  the  report  of  the  board  of 
managers  and  warden,  shows  the  financial  results  of  the  industrial  operations 
during  the  biennial  period  ending  July  31,  1898: 

Report  of  earnings  and  expenses  of  the  Minnesota  State  prison  for  the  biennial 
period  ending  July  31,  1898. 


CLASSIFIED   EXPENSES. 

Attendance  . .  $80, 864. 89 

Food 45,669.82 

Clothing  and  bedding.     8,781.72 

Laundry  supplies 1, 220.  79 

Fuel .... 16,591.22 

Light 940.56 

Medical  supplies 1, 849. 07 

Freight  and  transportation 4, 743. 08 

Postage  and  telegraphing 1,686.48 

Books,  stationery,  and  printing 2, 270. 85 


Amusements  and  instruction 


912.39 


Household  supplies 1, 965. 87 

Furniture  and  upholstering 192.32 

Building,  repairs,  etc . . 1, 790. 95 

Tools  and  machinery 2,804.94 

Farm  garden,  stock,  and  grounds 1 , 072. 15 

Insurance 318. 89 

Burial  expenses - 114.70 

Expenses  not  classified 12, 984. 82 

Industrial  training  expenses 14, 345. 57 

To  net  gain 


$201,121.08 
43,647.40 


$244,768.48 


68 


UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 


EARNINGS. 

From  convict  labor  for  August,  September,  and  October, 

1896,  18,451i  days,  at  50  cents $9,225.75 

Piece-price  system: 

Manufacture    of   208,471    pairs  of   lined 

shoes,  at  12.553  cents $25,541.49 

Manufacture    of    403,984   pairs   unlined 

shoes,  at  7.556  cents 30,526.47 

Manufacture  of  39,286  pairs  of  welt  shoes, 

at  15.058  cents 5,915.91 

Manufacture  of  21,088  pairs  of  boots,  at 

14.666cents 3,092.63 

65, 076. 50 

From  special  convict  labor 327. 55 

From  one-half  salary  of  night  watchman 600. 00 

From  United  States  for  board  of  United  States 

prisoners 10, 971. 01 

From  punishment  forfeitures 342. 50 

From  sale  of  high-school  apparatus 3, 844. 21 

From  sale  of  meal  tickets 193. 25 

From  sale  of  old  machinery 751.00 

From  visitors'  fees- 1, 813. 75 

From  Minnesota  Thresher  Manufacturing  Co. , 

balance  account 474.62 

From  convict  labor  in  twine  shop 17,619.25 

From  miscellaneous 639. 41 

37 , 576. 55 

From  profit  on  twine  business  for  the  year  ending  July 

31,1897 - 45,282.66 

From  profit  on  twine  business  for  the  year  ending  July 

31,1898 87,607.02 

§244,768.48 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

Convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  worked  under  the  contract  system,  and  the 
following  statement  taken  from  the  report  of  the  institution  for  the  years  1897 
and  1898  show  the  financial  results  of  the  industrial  operations: 

EARNINGS. 


1897. 


Labor  of  convicts 

Visitors'  fees 

Rent 

Board  of  United  States  prisoners 
Gain  on  inventory 


Total 


21,308.11 


$18,261.40 
350.00 
336.00 
641.36 


19, 588. 76 


EXPENSES. 


Deputy  warden's  salary  a. 

Physician 

Overseers.. 

Clothing 

Discharged  convicts 

Furniture 

Subsistence  (net) 

Water,  fuel,  and  light 

Hospital  supplies 

Repairs 

Incidentals  (net) 

Loss  on  inventory 


Total  expenses  for  year 19,200.74 

Excess  of  earnings  over  expenses 2,107.37 


$1,339.83 

500.00 

10,417.30 

950.19 

232.00 

166.99 

3,161.30 

1,749.14 

156.00 

31.17 

496.82 


21,308.11 


$1,200.00 

500.00 

10.711.K 

730.09 

184.  (Mi 

188.65 

2, 776. 71 

2,015.48 

154. 10 

61.29 

330.42 

46.22 


18, 898. 48 
690.28 

19,588.76 


a  Includes  $139.83  for  services  as  acting  warden  in  year  1896. 


PRISON    LABOR. 


69 


NEW  JERSEY. 

The  piece-price  system  is  in  vogue  at  the  State  prison,  and  all  the  convicts, 
except  those  engaged  in  caring  for  the  buildings  and  manufacturing  supplies  for 
the  inmates,  are  employed  under  it.  The  financial  balance  sheet  of  the  institu- 
tion for  the  year  1898  is  given  as  follows: 

Maintenance $89, 990. 69 

Furniture  and  repairs 9, 797. 74 

),  788. 43 

),  079. 75 


By  amount  of  revenue  paid  to  State  treasurer 86, 769. 34 

Cash  on  hand 2, 310. 41 


Net  cost  of  maintenance  and  repairs ... 10,708.68 

Net  cost  per  capita  per  annum 8. 87 

Net  cost  per  capita  per  diem .  0243 


NEW  YORK. 

The  State  commission  of  prisons  has  furnished  the  following  statement  con- 
cerning the  financial  operations  of  the  three  State  prisons: 

' '  The  following  table  gives  the  expenditures  and  earnings  and  deficiencies  in 
the  three  State  prisons  of  this  State  during  each  of  the  years  succeeding  1889  until 
the  adoption  of  the  present  system: 


Year. 

Expendi- 
tures. 

Earnings. 

Deficiency. 

1890... 

$434,267.47 

$275,251.83 

$159,  015.  04 

1891      .              

464,374.80 

262,  729.  57 

201  645  23 

1S92... 

484,936.19 

344,437.29 

140,498.90 

1893                    

504,164.34 

26,897  37 

477,266  97 

1894... 

465,269.85 

99,  197.  99 

366,071.99 

1895 

467,209.65 

135  180  92 

332  028  73 

1896  

474,915.53 

121,522.24 

353,393.28 

"During  1898,  under  the  present  system,  the  total  cost  of  maintenance  of  the 
same  prisons  was  $508,791.16,  and  their  total  earnings  were  $130,748.69,  leaving  a 
deficiency  of  $378,042.47. 

"  The  same  prisons  from  1881  to  1886,  inclusive,  under  a  system  which  provided 
that  contracts  for  convict  labor  might  be  entered  into  by  the  warden  of  these 
prisons,  at  any  kind  of  work  or  trade  that  might  be  approved  by  the  superintend- 
ent, and  allowing  the  unrestricted  manufacture  and  sale  of  prison-made  goods, 
showed  a  surplus  of  earnings  over  expenditures  each  year  in  amounts  varying 
from  $5,000  to  $10,000. 

"  While  it  is  not  expected  under  the  present  system  the  prisons  will  be  self- 
supporting,  it  is  expected  that  it  will  give  better  results  when  both  the  prisons  and 
the  people  have  become  more  familiar  with  its  workings  than  it  did  in  1898,  which 
was  the  first  full  year  under  the  new  law. 

"  During  the  year  1898,  in  addition  to  the  earnings  named  above,  the  prisoners 
did  a  large  amount  of  work  for  the  State  in  the  construction  of  new  buildings,  the 
improvement  of  old  buildings,  and  upon  highways  in  the  vicinity  of  the  prison, 
of  which  no  account  is  made  in  the  above  statement." 

The  following  statement  furnished  by  the  superintendent  of  the  Albany  County 
Penitentiary  gives  the  financial  results  of  the  industrial  operations  at  that  insti- 
tution: 

"  Since  I  assumed  charge  of  this  penitentiary,  in  1895,  all  work  done  by  con- 
victs, aside  from  prison  duties  and  work  on  the  prison  farm,  has  been  done  on  the 
piece-price  plan.  The  contractors  furnish  all  the  materials,  tools,  machinery, 
etc..  the  penitentiary  furnishing  only  the  labor  of  the  convicts  and  the  buildings 
in  which  they  were  employed. 


70 


UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION 


"  Working  on  the  above  plan  the  results  for  the  several  years  have  been  as 
follows: 

EARNINGS. 


1895. 

1896. 

1897. 

1898. 

Laundry  department   

$13,420.62 

$15,022.18 

$11,956.63 

$3,053  72 

Brush  department 

9,077.41 

9,997  71 

9  624  84 

10  261  46 

Shirt  department  

17,452.65 

16,  435.  55 

1,068.85 

Chair-seating  department 

2  849.85 

2  568  59 

480  43 

Board  of  prisoners            ...              .... 

42,800.53 
96,588.51 

44,024.03 
96,  721.  90 

23,  130.  75 
92,  874.  15 

15,315.18 
67  047  38 

Mis^pl  Iftnoon  s 

1  619  51 

1  698  83 

2  370  58 

1  073  12 

Total 

141  008  55 

142  444  76 

118  375  48 

81  435  68 

EXPENSES. 


Provisions  

$47,997.18 

$46,187.01 

$41,178.20 

$37,950.94 

Expense   . 

12,661.89 

13,469.95 

14  693.67 

7  395  91 

Clothing  and  bedding    r  

6,  716.  23 

2.381.88 

2,627.84 

2,  040.  16 

Furniture 

2,950.20 

1,055.11 

591  65 

912  88 

Improvements  and  repairs 

5,909.49 

2,479.47 

1,  120.  92 

3  486  61 

Transportation  

1,738.07 

1,656.49 

1,761.58 

1,278.06 

Salaries  .                                           .                   ... 

33,368.36 

35,085.31 

35,  756.  34 

34  270  42 

Insurance  .      

567.60 

544.72 

520.61 

431.05 

Total                                  

111,909.02 

102,859.94 

98,  250.  81 

87,  766.  03 

Net  profit 

29,029.53 

39,584.82 

20,124  67 

Net  loss                          

6,330.35 

Daily  average  number  of  prisoners 

971 

971 

900 

659 

Daily  average  cost  of  maintenance  per  capita  

$0.304 

$0.295 

$0.299 

$0.3674 

During  different  years  there  were  Albany  County  prisoners  confined  without  cost 
to  the  county.  The  number  of  such  prisoners  for  each  year  and  the  amount  of 
board  that  the  penitentiary  would  have  received  if  board  had  been  paid  at  the 
rate  paid  by  other  counties  was  as  follows: 


1895. 

1896. 

1897. 

1898. 

Number  of  Albany  County  prisoners  .  

343 

420 

315 

277 

Estimated  amount  of  board 

$14,000.00 

$14  010.10 

$12  940  31 

$9  602  36 

"From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  when  we  were  permitted  to  work  up 
our  full  capacity  under  the  piece-price  plan,  this  prison  was  not  only  self-support- 
ing, but  a  source  of  revenue  to  Albany  County.  In  November,  1897,  I  turned 
over  to  the  county  treasurer,  from  the  surplus  earned  since  I  assumed  charge  of 
the  institution  in  July,  1895,  the  sum  of  $75,000. 

"  The  passage  of  recent  legislation  prohibiting  the  reception  of  Federal  pris- 
oners and  the  employment  of  convicts  on  the  piece-price  plan  has  brought  about 
an  entirely  different  state  of  affairs,  and  until  the  matter  of  prison  labor  is  more 
thoroughly  investigated  and  understood  by  the  people,  and  especially  by  work- 
ingmen,  to  whose  mistaken  ideas  and  misdirected  zeal  the  present  state  or  affairs 
is  due,  the  prisons  of  this  State  will  be  a  large  item  of  expense  to  the  taxpayers." 


PRISON   LABOR. 


71 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 

About  nine-tenths  of  the  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  produce  products 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  institution  and  also  for  market.  Some  manufacture 
brick,  and  others  work  on  public  roads  or  under  contract  system.  The  following 
balance  sheet  is  taken  from  the  report  of  the  institution  for  the  year  1898: 

Balance  sheet  of  the  penitentiary  for  the  year  1898. 

DEBITS. 
1898. 

Jan.  1.  Balance  due  State  treasurer $15, 827. 45 

Bills  audited   for  expenses   for  the 

year  1898,  paid '$107,713.21 

Bills  audited    for  expenses  for  the 
year  1898,  unpaid 62,670.39 

170,383.60 

Value  of  products  consumed  during 

the  year 50,137.75 

$236,348.80 

CREDITS. 

Collections  from  sale  of  farm  and  other  products,  and 

from  wages  of  convict  labor $97, 907. 91 

Value  of  farm  products,  excluding  sales 169, 705. 40 

Value  of  bricks  on  hand  and  for  sale 1,835.72 

Book  accounts 12,150.87 

Cash  in  bank  and  drawer 1, 202. 25 

$282, 802. 15 

Total  debits ...  236,348.80 

Balance 46,453.35 

This  balance  of  $46,453.35  consists  of  farm  products  on 
hand  for  support  and  sale 31, 264. 51 

Brick  on  hand 1,835.72 

Book  accounts  due  by  United  States  Govern- 
ment  $3,602.50 

Book  accounts  due  by  R.  and  C.  F.  R.  Rail- 
road   2,089.76 

Book  accounts  due  by  personal  accounts 6, 458. 61 

12, 150. 87 

Cash  in  bank  and  drawer 1,202.25 

46,453.35 

OHIO. 

Convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  who  are  not  required  by  the  State  to  care  for 
the  institution  and  manufacture  supplies  for  the  same  are  employed  under  the 
piece-piice  and  contract  systems.  The  following  statement,  showing  the  earn- 
ings and  expenditures  for  each  year  from  1891  to  1898,  inclusive,  has  been  fur- 
nished by  the  warden: 

Ohio  penitentiary,  earnings  and  expenditures. 


Year. 


Average 
popula- 
tion. 


Earnings. 


Expendi- 
tures. 


Gain. 


Loss. 


1891. 
1892. 
1893. 
1894. 
1895. 
1896. 
1897. 


1,596 
1,726 
1,796 
2,016 
2,085 
2,174 
2,278 
2,424 


$241,178.84 
260,317.17 
295,451.49 
261,768.56 
228, 736. 13 
230, 947. 21 
272,068.26 
319,072.93 


$230,021.32 
257,440.58 
264.371.53 
270,905.61 
284, 197. 35 
288,807.80 
306.650.22 
347,443.91 


$11,157.52 

2,876.59 

31,079.96 


$9,137.05 
55,461.22 
57,860.59 
34,581.96 
28,370.98 


1  Of  these  $Vfl,713.2'1  bills  audited,  $28,929.57  was  for  debts  contracted  by  John  R.  Smith,  former 
superintendent,  and  audited  in  the  current  year. 


72 


UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


The  warden  of  the  Western  Penitentiary  at  Allegheny,  in  response  to  a  request 
for  information  concerning  the  financial  operations  of  the  institution,  furnished 
the  following  statement  under  date  of  July  13,  1898: 

"In  reply  to  your  letter  asking  for  full  information  concerning  the  financial 
results  of  the  different  methods  under  which  the  prisoners  of  this  institution  had 
been  employed,  I  desire  to  state  that  this  prison  has  fully  tested  the  various 
methods  of  labor  used  in  prisons,  known  as  contract,  piece-price,  and  State-account 
systems.  It  ceased  to  operate  under  the  contract  system  by  direction  of  a  State 
law,  enacted  in  1883,  but  the  financial  results  therefrom  were  nearly  enough  to 
pay  the  cost  of  support  of  the  prisoners.  The  piece-price  system  has  been  used 
in  the  making  of  brooms;  its  financial  results  are  about  three-fifths  of  the  earnings 
by  contract.  A  further  limitation  has  been  made  by  a  recent  law  removing  all 
power  machinery,  except  hand  and  foot  power,  in  the  manufacture  of  goods  made 
for  sale.  Under  the  State-account  method  this  prison  has  established  several 
industries,  giving  its  inmates  useful  and  instructive  forms  of  labor,  but  they  are 
not  so  largely  remunerative  in  money  earnings  as  the  contract  system. 

"  The  State  has  not  found  fault  with  this  annual  deficit,  and  one  of  its  governors 
said  in  a  public  report  some  years  ago,  '  in  neither  of  the  penitentiaries  of  this 
State  has  there  ever  been  an  attempt  yet  made  to  administer  them  on  the  vulgar, 
wicked,  unworthy  consideration  of  making  them  self-sustaining.  In  neither  of 
them  has  it  been  forgotten  that  even  the  convict  is  a  human  being,  and  that  his 
body  and  soul  are  not  so  the  property  of  the  State  that  both  may  be  crushed  out 
in  the  effort  to  reimburse  the  State  the  cost  of  his  scanty  food,  and  at  the  end  of 
his  term  what  is  then  left  of  him  be  dismissed  an  enemy  of  human  society.' 

"  As  a  result  of  the  limitations  of  industries  conducted  in  this  prison  only  35  per 
cent  of  the  inmates  are  at  present  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  goods  for  sale, 
and  the  amount  earned  falls  far  short  of  the  expense  of  maintenance.  In  Penn- 
sylvania all  deficiencies  in  earnings  by  labor  is  charged  to  the  counties  sending 
prisoners  to  the  institution,  at  so  much  per  diem,  as  the  amount  maybe  from  year 
to  year. 

"If  the  Industrial  Commission  will  look  over  the  question  in  all  its  lines  it  will 
be  seen  that  several  of  the  Southern  States  have  large  manufacturing  establish- 
ments within  the  walls  of  their  prisons,  and  annually  earn  the  entire  expense  of 
support,  salaries,  and  repairs." 

The  total  expenses  and  earnings  of  the  institution  during  the  years  1897  and  1898 
are  shown  in  the  following  statement : 
The  total  expenses  and  earnings  were  as  follows  : 


1897. 

1898. 

DR. 
Provisions  and  supplies  

£46  465  % 

§42  879  96 

Clothing  and  shoes  

8,008.56 

9  229.  58 

Beds  and  bedding  . 

1  413  49 

1  518  95 

Fuel  and  light  .           ...           .         ... 

20,  672.  55 

20  972.  19 

General  expenses 

31  467  65 

31  606  12 

Extraordinary  repairs 

2,255.88 

5  249  13 

Electric-light  plant  account  

12,  618.  78 

Working  capital,  addition  to 

5,351  25 

4  555  75 

Reserved  on  account  of  stock  on  hand  in  manufacturing  departments.  .  . 

36,217.43 

3,732.38 

151,852.17 

133,352.84 

CR. 
Mat  department  

31  086  51 

12  050  30 

Hosiery  department               .  . 

22,011  78 

12.994  62 

Broom  department  

11,794.60 

5,  797.  66 

Shoe  department 

1,636  00 

1,483.11 

Sale  of  rags,  iron,  and  other  old  material    .  .         

422.67 

203.  96 

United  States,  for  keeping  prisoners 

5,351  25 

Profit  and  loss  account 

2  20 

Amount  charged  to  counties 

72,305.01 
79,547.16 

37,085.40 
96,277.44 

151,a52.17 

1X5.  3(52.84 

PEISON    LABOR.  73 

VERMONT. 

Convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  worked  under  the  contract  system,  and  the  fol- 
lowing recapitulation  shows  the  income  and  expenses  for  the  biennial  period  end- 
ing June  30,  1898: 

RECAPITULATION. 

INCOME. 

Fees  from  visitors $256. 00 

Convict  labor 53, 932. 68 

$54, 188. 68 

EXPENSES  CONSOLIDATED. 

Miscellaneous  expense  account,  balance $5, 866. 33 

Fuel  and  lights,  balance 5,768.20 

Clothing,  balance 1 , 194. 42 

Subsistence,  balance 6, 984. 51 

Board,  balance 5,065.13 

Improvements  and  repairs,  balance 3, 164. 96 

Boilers  and  engines,  balance- ._ 6, 235. 02 

Officers'  salaries,  balance 15, 987. 17 

$50,265.74 


Income,  over  and  above  expenses 3,922.94 


CHAPTER  V. 

JAILS. 

With  but  few  exceptions  there  is  no  acknowledged  system  for  the  employment 
of  prisoners  in  jails.  In  many  States  where  the  laws  provide  that  such  prisoners 
shall  be  employed  the  provisions  are  either  ignored  or  no  uniform  system  has 
been  developed. 

The  information  received  by  the  commission  from  practically  all  of  the  States 
indicates  that  the  conditions  prevailing  in  most  of  them  are,  in  many  respects, 
similar  to  those  existing  in  the  State  of  Indiana,  as  depicted  by  the  following  quo- 
tation from  the  Ninth  Report  of  the  Board  of  State  charities  for  the  year  1898: 

"  The  Indiana  jail  system  is  not  a  thing  to  be  commended.  The  jails  vary 
greatly  in  accommodations  and  adaptability,  depending,  doubtless,  upon  the  intel- 
ligence and  information  of  those  under  whose  direction  they  were  erected  and  the 
conditions  existing  at  the  time.  Some  modern  ones  are  well  constructed.  From 
these  they  range  to  unwholesome  cells  in  the  basements  of  buildings,  and  struc- 
tures erected  with  the  sole  idea  of  putting  an  unfortunate  out  of  sight  and  keep- 
ing him  there.  Jail  administration  has  not  been  thought  of  by  many  officials. 
They  have  not  heard  that  there  is  such  a  thing.  There  are  no  rules  as  to  the  con- 
duct of  prisoners.  These  are  expected  to  do  what  is  done  toward  cleaning  the 
jail  and  are  permitted  to  have  the  run  of  the  institution.  It  is  impossible  to  esti- 
mate the  extra  amount  of  expense  entailed  through  the  maladministration  of  our 
jails.  The  horrors  of  the  system  and  the  more  frightful  realization  of  the  con- 
ditions, as  it  appeals  to  those  who  visit  these  institutions,  merit  the  condemnation 
of  all." 

Considering  the  above  statement  in  connection  with  the  following,  taken  from 
an  Illinois  report  made  in  1872,  it  is  evident  that  an  improvement  in  the  jail  sys- 
tems has  been  long  realized: 

"Our  deliberate  judgment  is  that  the  practical  value  of  jails,  whether  as  means 
of  prevention  or  of  cure  of  crime,  compared  with  their  great  cost,  is  very  trifling. 
We  find  upon  inquiry  that  others  have  arrived  at  the  same  conclusion  before  us. 
In  fact,  this  opinion  is  shared  by  nearly  all  who  have  given  this  subject  any  atten- 
tion. Probably  no  other  equal  expenditure  of  money  is  equally  unprofitable." 

The  conditions  existing  in  the  jails  of  other  States  is  indicated  by  the  following 
quotations  from  a  few  of  the  many  reports  on  the  subject. 

Report  on  prisons  and  reformatories  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  submitted 
to  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1867 : 

"It  is  clear  that  our  common  jails  are  not  now,  and  never  can  be,  houses  of 
correction  in  the  proper  sense — places  for  the  reformation  of  criminals.  The  fact 
that  they  are  mere  places  of  detention  to  the  majority  of  their  inmates,  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  sentences  of  those  confined  in  thein  for  punishment  are  and 
are  likely  ever  to  be  too  short  to  admit  of  the  application  of  reformatory  proc- 
esses, the  constant  flux  in  their  population,  the  difficulty  of  organizing  and 
enforcing  a  system  of  labor,  without  which  there  can  be  no  reformation,  and, 
above  all,  the  want  of  a  proper  staff  of  officers." 

The  third  annual  report  of  the  State  commission  of  prisons  of  New  York  of  1897 
states : 

"  Of  all  the  public  institutions  in  America  the  county  jails  are  the  most  unsat- 
isfactory.    Of  the  60  counties  in  this  State,  49  do  not  employ  their  jail  convicts  in 
any  form  of  labor." 
74 


PRISON    LABOR.  75 

The  fourth  annual  report  of  the  State  commission  of  prisons  of  New  York  of 
1898  contains  the  following  information  relative  to  the  jails  of  the  State : 

"The  county  jails  were  found  to  be  in  a  bad  condition  and  badly  managed, 
and  many  of  them  were  old  and  poorly  ventilated  and  drained.  While  they 
were  occasionally  clean,  to  receive  the  visits  of  boards  of  supervisors  or  grand 
juries,  as  a  general  rule  they  lacked  ordinary  cleanliness.  Many  were  heated  by 
stoves  and  lighted  by  kerosene  lamps,  which  added  to  the  general  unhealthy  con- 
dition. But  few  had  bathrooms  in  connection  with  them,  and  the  refuse  usually 
went  into  near  cesspools  instead  of  into  sewers.  With  their  constant  shifting, 
transient  population,  they  endangered  the  public  health.  There  was  no  uniform 
plan  for  their  erection,  each  county  having  a  jail  after  a  pattern  of  its  own,  based 
upon  the  consideration  of  cheapness.  There  was  no  classification  or  separation 
of  the  classes  of  prisoners.  Though  the  law  prohibited  the  keeping  of  those  in 
prison  on  civil  process,  or  detained  merely  as  witnesses  with  those  convicted  or 
committed  on  criminal  charges,  they  were  generally  found  in  rooms  or  corridors 
together.  The  separation  of  women  from  men,  as  required  by  law,  was  very 
unsatisfactory.  Those  convicted  and  those  awaiting  trial  or  examination  were 
usually  found  together.  Young  men  and  boys  arrested  for  minor  offenses,  more 
as  a  result  of  heedlessness  or  want  of  training  than  by  reason  of  criminal  inten- 
tions, were  in  association  with  old  offenders  and  hardened  criminals,  listening  to 
their  adventures  and  instructions.  The  jails  were  not  only  dangerous  to  public 
health,  but  they  were  schools  where  crime  was  taught  and  made  to  increase. 

"By  repeated  inspections  and  recommendations  to  the  boards  and  officers  having 
to  do  with  the  management  of  the  jails,  a  better  condition  was  brought  about. 
At  meetings  with  the  boards  and  officers,  attention  was  called  to  the  law,  and  also 
to  the  benefit  to  be  gained  by  the  proper  management.  The  jails  have  been 
cleaned,  stoves  and  lamps  generally  removed  and  replaced  by  steam  heat  and 
electric  lights,  which  have  proved  more  economical.  Necessary  improvements 
for  sanitation  and  ventilation  have  been  made  in  many  instances,  and  sewer  con- 
nections have  replaced  the  ancient  rotting  cesspols.  Employment  has  been  fur- 
nished in  some  counties  and  shorter  sentences  to  the  jail,  with  labor,  has  been 
found  to  be  better  and  more  economical,  and  the  population  of  the  penitentiaries 
has  thereby  materially  decreased  beyond  the  natural  decrease  resulting  from  the 
laws  preventing  there  being  recruited  from  outside  the  State,  and  by  a  mingling 
of  felons  with  misdemeanants. 

"  Before  the  creation  of  the  commission,  when  there  were  no  State  officials  whose 
jurisdiction  extended  to  all  jails,  each  was  managed  according  to  the  views  of  the 
jailer  in  charge,  subject  only  to  the  occasional  visits  of  grand  juries  or  committees 
of  supervisors,  which  were  formal  and  short.  The  jails  were  managed  more  as 
houses  of  detention  than  as  penal  institutions.  The  keepers  were  changed  every 
three  years  on  the  election  of  a  new  sheriff,  and  no  one  seemed  to  be  informed  as 
to  the  laws  regulating  them  and  the  confinement  of  prisoners,  and  there  was  no 
one  with  any  authority  that  could  call  attention  to  any  defects  in  plans  or 
management.  The  most  of  them  were  built  when  the  country  was  new  and  more 
sparsely  settled,  and  they  were  in  every  way  unsatisfactory  in  respect  to  size, 
sanitation,  or  adaptability  to  their  purpose.  All  classes  of  prisoners,  tramps, 
young  offenders,  hardened  criminals,  convicted  and  unconvicted,  were  herded 
together,  and  they  were  the  primary  schools  where  crime  was  learned.  The 
commission  called  the  attention  of  the  boards  of  supervisors  and  other  officers  to 
the  defects  and  the  law  requiring  separation  of  prisoners,  and  by  its  reports  and 
personal  interviews  urged  improvements.  The  officials  have  shown  a  disposition 
to  improve  the  conditions  and  to  act  on  the  suggestions  for  better  management, 
and  the  people  generally  have  shown  an  interest  in  the  matter.  The  inspections 
and  recommendations  have  resulted  in  much  good,  although  the  frequent  changes 
in  officials  require  the  same  work  to  be  often  repeated. 

"The  lack  of  cleanliness  about  jails  and  inmates  of  jails,  poor  sanitation, 
drainage,  and  ventilation,  are  dangerous  to  the  public,  as  thereby  contagious 
diseases  may  be  engendered  or  the  germs  held  to  infect  others.  Yet  often  the 
recommendations  of  the  commission  in  those  respects  have  been  received  as  if 
they  were  proposals  for  luxuries.  Baths  and  general  cleanliness  are  among  the 
necessities  of  life  rather  than  being  mere  luxuries. 

"  For  more  than  50  years  the  law  has  commanded  that  convicts  in  county  jails 
be  employed  at  some  kind  of  work  for  6  days  in  the  week,  but  in  about  60  counties 
the  law  has  been  overlooked  or  forgotten.  Instead  of  labor,  the  convicts  are  left 
in  idleness  to  smoke,  play  cards,  exchange  experience,  or  plot  for  future  depreda- 
tions. Such  imprisonment  is  not  punishment,  but  a  rest  or  vacation.  It  has  no 
terror  after  the  first  conviction,  but  is  often  an  attraction,  resulting  in  repetitions 


76  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

of  the  offenses  until  later  on  the  man  is  sent  to  the  penitentiary,  which  proves  an 
intermediate  school  between  the  primary  of  the  jail  and  the  State  pi-isons.  Young 
offenders,  more  unfortunate  and  heedless  than  criminal,  listen  to  the  adventures 
of  old  criminals  and  receive  lessons  in  crime. 

"  If  the  misdemeanants  sentenced  to  the  jails  were  required  to  labor  there  would 
be  more  of  punishment  about  the  confinement.  A  sentence  of  10  or  30  days  with 
labor  would  be  a  punishment  to  be  avoided.  When  it  is  found  that  a  sentence  to 
the  jail  means  work  instead  of  play,  there  would  be  fewer  convictions  and  less 
occasion  to  repeat  them.  Those  convicted  of  intoxication  (more  of  a  weakness 
than  a  result  of  a  vicious  or  criminal  mind  or  disposition)  should  be  sent  to  work 
On  county  farms,  where  they  would  be  removed  from  temptation,  and  could  be 
useful,  rather  than  to  be  confined  with  those  actually  vicious. 

•'  By  complying  with  the  law  of  so  long  standing,  requiring  convicts  in  jails  to 
be  employed  at  labor,  the  officials  may  save  money  for  the  taxpayers  in  their 
counties,  lessen  the  number  of  convictions,  give  occupation  instead  of  idleness  to 
the  prisoners,  and  make  the  jails  less  discreditable  to  the  localities.  Labor,  rather 
than  the  luxury  of  idleness,  is  another  necessity  for  proper  penal  administration. 
With  such  labor,  even  if  it  brought  no  direct  profit,  there  would  be  realized  a  profit 
by  way  of  better  roads  and  a  decrease  of  convicts  and  of  criminal  acts." 

Twelfth  annual  report  of  the  general  superintendent  of  prisons  of  Massachu- 
setts, concerning  prison  labor,  1898: 

"There  are  22  county  prisons  in  the  State.  The  laws  relating  to  the  labor  of 
prisoners  now  apply  to  all  the  State  and  county  prisons.  The  prisoners  in  the 
various  jails  are  employed,  as  shown  by  the  following  qtiotations  and  synopsis,  in 
various  industries:  •  Pumping  water  with  a  hand  engine  into  a  tank  at  the  top  of 
the  court-house.'  •  Making  shoe  heels.'  '  Some  of  the  prisoners  now  work  at 
making  flexible  soles,  and  others  are  employed  in  manufacturing  leather  board.' 
•  Cultivating  land. '  '  Cane  seating  of  chairs. '  '  Manufacture  of  umbrellas. '  •  Mak- 
ing of  brushes  and  the  manufacture  of  mats  on  hand  machines.'  '  Preparing  con- 
crete for  use  on  the  public  buildings.'  'Sorting  cotton  waists.'  '  Making  cheap 
overalls.'  These  industries  are  usually  conducted  under  the  public-account 
system." 

Sixteenth  annual  report  of  the  bureau  of  labor  of  Michigan,  1898: 

'•  Of  83  counties  in  the  State  66  reported  416  prisoners  confined  in  their  jails  on 
the  1st  of  May,  1898.  Twenty  per  cent  of  the  county  jails  were  empty  on  that 
date,  and  those  naving  prisoners  averaged  about  6  each,  the  greatest  number  (34) 
being  in  Wayne  County  jail.  Eight  jails  contained  but  1  prisoner  each.  Of  the 
76  chartered  cities  in  the  State,  45  are  county  seats.  Most  of  the  cities  use  the 
county  jails.  Of  the  298  incorporated  villages  in  the  State,  84  reported  314  pris- 
oners confined  in  their  village  jails  on  the  1st  day  of  May,  1898.  There  were  no 
prisoners  confined  in  214  of  the  village  jails  on  that  date." 

Report  on  the  prison  system  of  Michigan,  1899: 

"A  system  to  be  effective  must  be  good  in  its  various  parts,  and  the  action  of 
these  must  tend  in  the  same  direction.  To  use  a  homely  illustration,  an  animal 
perfect  in  all  other  respects  may  be  ineffective  because  of  some  defect  in  one  foot. 
It  is  somewhat  so  with  systems.  In  this  respect  Michigan  stands  among  the  first 
of  the  States.  Still  it  has  defects. 

"  First,  there  could  be  greater  unification.  The  jails,  the  reformatories,  and 
the  prisons  might  be  brought  into  greater  harmony,  so  that  the  policy  pursued  in 
each  should  cooperate  to  achieve  the  same  end.  This  would  require  that  all  the 
prisons,  and  the  jails  as  well,  should  be  brought  under  some  common  supervision. 
This  is  done  in  some  countries. 

"I  recognize  the  great  difficulty  that  would  be  encountered  in  any  attempt  to 
bring  any  such  modification  about  here.  The  laudable  jealousy  of  our  people  in 
guarding  their  personal  and  local  rights  is  such  that  the  residence  in  the  road  dis- 
tricts insist  on  controlling  the  road  making  in  their  localities  as  though  they  alone 
were  interested  in  them,  and  even  when  they  must  see  that  a  supervision  of  road 
making  by  an  expert  engineer  having  a  wide  field  would  result  in  cheaper  and 
better  roads. 

"A  little  reflection  will  convince  everyone  how  totally  unfit  the  county  jail  is 
for  the  treatment  of  offenders  after  conviction.  The  keepers  change  often,  and 
very  few  have  any  knowledge  of  the  way  to  treat  offenders  in  order  to  prevent 
their  repeating  crimes.  Nor  have  the  jails  any  equipment  for  this  treatment. 
They  have  no  work  to  do.  And  we  know  that  the  sending  of  disorderlies  to  jail 
has  little  tendency  to  lessen  disorder,  and  none  to  reform  the  offenders. 


PRISON    LABOR.  77 

"  The  jail,  then,  should  be  used  to  detain  accused  persons  before  trial  only  and 
not  as  a  place  of  punishment  after  conviction.  Provision  should  exist  in  the  jails 
for  keeping  those  awaiting  trial  in  separate  cells.  Criminality  is  increased  by 
placing  young  offenders  in  jail  with  hardened  criminals.  Where  incarceration 
after  conviction  is  necessary  it  should  be  in  some  place  where  the  convict  can  be 
treated  for  a  cure,  some  reformatory  or  house  of  correction  with  work  to  do. 

"  It  i£  evident  that  while  the  industrial  systems  in  vogue  in  the  prisons,  peni- 
tentiaries, and  other  State  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  should  be  harmon- 
ized, any  legislation  on  the  subject  would  be  superficial  if  it  did  not  consider  and 
dispose  of  the  objectionable  features  of  the  system,  or  lack  of  system,  for  the 
employment  of  the  prisoners  in  the  city  and  county  jails. 

"Any  legislation  on  this  phase  of  the  convict-labor  problem  must  necessarily  be 
of  a  radical  character.  The  commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  only  true 
remedy  is  to  be  found  in  abolishing  the  county  and  city  jails  and  establishing  a 
district  jail  system. 

"  The  vast  majority  of  the  jails  are,  as  now  conducted,  a  useless  expense.  The 
small  number  of  prisoners  confined  in  the  majority  of  them  does  not  justify  the 
expenditure  necessary  to  their  proper  construction  and  maintenance  or  the  estab- 
lishment of  any  system  of  employment  and  reformation.  Their  insignificance 
when  considered  separately  does  not  arouse  public  attention  and  the  consequent 
demands  for  reformation.  The  officials  are  under  no  general  supervision  and  are 
not  directly  responsible  to  a  central  office. 

"The  district  jail  system  would  remove  many  of  these  objections  and  lead 
gradually  to  the  construction  of  institutions  having  many  of  the  features  of  State 
prisons  and  penitentiaries.  Their  industrial  operations  would  be  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  same  official  that  controlled  the  State  institutions  and  the  labor  of 
the  inmates  systematized  and  utilized  in  many  ways  that  are  impossible  under 
the  present  conditions." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

EMPLOYMENT  OF  PRISONERS  DURING  1898  AND  1899. 

The  laws  in  each  of  the  States  and  Territories  provide  for  a  number  of  different 
methods  under  which  the  prisoners  and  inmates  of  the  various  penal  and  reform- 
atory institutions  may  be  employed.  It  is  essential  to  a  thorough  understanding 
of  the  present  conditions  of  prison  labor  to  know  which  of  these  methods  are  in 
actual  use,  and  whether  in  the  distribution  of  the  prison  population  one  system 
is  preferred  to  another. 

The  commission  has  consulted  the  reports  for  practically  all  of  the  institutions 
of  this  character,  and  has  also  sent  circular  letters  to  the  officials  of  each  request- 
ing information  in  regard  to  the  present  methods  under  which  the  prisoners  are 
employed.  The  information  secured  in  this  manner  has  enabled  the  preparation 
of  the  following  table,  which  shows  the  methods  under  which  prisoners  were 
employed  in  each  State  during  the  years  1898  and  1899,  and  of  the  statements  which 
follow  for  each  State  and  Territory,  giving  in  detail  the  industries  in  which  the 
prisoners  were  engaged,  the  general  system  under  which  they  were  employed  and 
the  results  of  such  employment: 
78 


PRISON    LABOR. 


79 


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80  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

ALABAMA. 

The  major  portion  of  the  convicts,  ab  e-bodied  males,  are  worked  under  the 
lease  system  in  coal  mines,  the  State  receiving  from  $7  to  $14  per  month  per 
convict.  The  males  pronounced  physically  unable  to  work  in  the  mines,  together 
with  the  women,  are  employed  on  the  State  farms,  producing  articles  for  con 
sumption  at  the  penitentiaries,  and  in  the  State  cotton  mill,  under  the  State 
account  system.  Some  of  them  are  also  worked  under  the  contract  and  lease  system 
in  sawmills  or  on  farms  and  in  other  pursuits. 

Arrangements!  are  made  with  numerous  companies  and  individuals  located  in 
different  parts  of  the  State  for  the  employment  of  the  convicts  under  leases  and 
contracts,  and  according  to  the  report  of  the  board  of  inspectors  of  convicts  for 
the  2  years  ending  August  31,  1898,  the  gross  earnings  from  the  hire  and  labor 
of  convicts  was  $325,196.10,  and  the  expenses  (not  including  the  cost  bills)  was 
$136,662.50,  showing  a  net  profit  of  $188,533.60. 

' '  The  State  cotton  mill  is  a  3,300-spindle  mill,  and  cost  $78,347.77.  Of  this  amount 
$67,532.77  was  paid  out  of  the  State  treasury,  and  the  State  furnished  brick  to  the 
value  of  $4,375  and  convict  labor  to  the  value  of  $6,440,  making  altogether 
$78,347.77.  The  entire  cost  of  the  mill  was  paid  for  during  the  2  years  ending 
August  31.  1898,  except  $9,801.74,  which  was  paid  in  the  former  biennial  period. 
The  mill  began  operation  about  January  1, 1897,  and  has  been  operated  about  12 
months  since  in  manufacturing  the  crops  of  1896  and  1897  produced  011  the  State 
farms.  The  entire  expense  incurred  in  the  operation  of  the  mill,  charging  the 
mill  with  the  cotton  at  the  market  price,  has  been  $42,987.16.  The  proceeds  from 
the  sale  of  cloth  of  the  crop  of  1896  was  $27,701.76,  and  the  product  of  the  mill  on 
hand  of  the  crop  of  1897,  valued  at  $25,102.56,  makes  the  output  of  the  mill 
$52,804.56.  Deduct  the  disbursements,  $42,987.16,  and  it  leaves  $9,817.16  as  a  net 
profit.  The  labor  used  in  the  mill  are  women  and  boys  that  have  always  been  an 
expense  to  the  State,  and  when  not  at  work  in  the  mLl  are  worked  on  the  farm. 
The  mill  contains  floor  space  for  5,000  spindles,  and  if  increased  to  that  number 
the  fixed  charges  would  not  be  greater  than  now  and  without  any  additional 
expense  for  power.  The  convict  cotton  stripes  for  the  clothing  of  the  convicts  is 
made  in  the  mill,  which  is  a  great  saving  to  the  State,  and  with  the  addition  of  a 
few  box  looms  the  wool  stripes  could  also  be  made. 

"The  State  farms  have  been  well  cultivated  and  the  crops,  consisting  of  cotton, 
corn,  oats,  pease,  potatoes,  sugar  cane,  and  vegetables,  have  been  fairly  good, 
considering  the  season  last  and  this  year.  There  are  good  herds  of  cattle  at  each 
of  the  farms;  also  a  great  many  hogs,  which  will  greatly  reduce  the  amount  of 
meat  which  would  otherwise  have  to  be  bought.  Several  hundred  acres  of  land 
have  been  cleared,  ditched,  and  brought  into  cultivation  on  the  State  farm  on  the 
Tallapoosa  River.  Several  thousand  dollars  have  been  expended  in  improvements 
and  repairs  on  the  State  farm  during  the  two  years  ending  August  31 ,  1898. 

"With  all  the  economy  that  has  been  practiced  it  has  been  impossible  to  make 
the  State  farm  self-sustaining.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  State  has  to  guard 
and  maintain  the  old,  broken  down,  and  disabled  convicts  of  the  entire  system, 
and  this  class  greatly  exceeds  in  number  those  who  are  able  to  work.  Under  the 
existing  conditions,  the  low  price  of  farm  products,  the  State  could  not  expect  to 
do  more  than  make  the  farm  self-sustaining  if  every  convict  were  able  to  work, 
and  certainly  can  not  do  it  when  more  than  half  of  them  are  unable  to  work.  It 
should  be  stated  here  that  a  great  number  of  convicts  are  received  into  the 
penitentiary  in  bad  physical  condition,  due  to  the  terrible  condition  of  the  jails 
and  overcrowding,  and  are  thrown  upon  the  State  to  maintain  during  their 
imprisonment,  not  only  to  maintain  them,  but  to  pay  the  cost  of  their  conviction. 
A  jail  inspector  is  needed,  with  authority  to  enforce  sanitary  regulations  in 
keeping  with  our  civilization." 

ARIZONA. 

The  convicts  at  the  Territorial  penitentiary  are  not  engaged  in  any  employment 
calculated  to  reimburse  the  Territory  for  their  keep,  and  other  than  the  regular 
work  incident  to  the  care  of  the  institution  and  the  manufacture  of  their  own 
supplies  they  have  no  system  of  employment. 


PRISON    LABOR.  81 

The  shoes  and  clothing  worn  by  the  prisoners  are  made  there.  There  are  ample 
facilities  for  doing  this  work,  and  more  could  be  accomplished  in  that  direction  if 
there  was  a  demand  for  the  product. 

According  to  the  biennial  report  of  the  Territorial  prison  the  prisoners  were 
worked  by  the  Arizona  Improvement  Company,  under  the  contract  system. 

"  The  Territory  was  to  receive  compensation  therefor  at  the  rate  of  70  cents  per 
day  per  man  employed.  Work  for  the  company  commenced  October  22,  1897,  with 
12  men,  and,  with  greater  or  less  numbers,  has  been  continued  to  this  time,  there 
being  at  present  2  men  so  employed.  The  men  were  employed  at  various  tasks, 
including  digging  ditches,  working  on  the  company  farm,  driving  teams,  firing 
boiler  at  pump  station,  cutting  wood,  etc. 

"  The  total  amount  of  work  performed  for  the  company  to  date  is  10,602  days, 
which,  at  70  cents  per  day,  amounts  to  $7,421.40,  of  which  no  part  has  been  paid. 

"Convicts  working  on  the  canal — that  is,  working  for  the  State  of  Arizona 
Improvement  Company — and  also  those  working  in  the  wood  camps  for  the  Terri- 
tory, were  given  a  verbal  promise  of  an  allowance  of  extra  credit  over  and  above 
the  regular  credits  allowed  by  law,  of  one  day  for  each  three  days  of  actual  labor 
performed.  This  promise  of  extra  good  time  was  made  by  Governor  Me  Cord. 
Faith  in  this  promise  has  been  kept  for  work  so  done,  but  such  extra  time  allow- 
ances were  discontinued  when  the  change  in  the  management  was  made. 

The  report  also  states  that — 

"  The  proper  employment  of  prisoners  is  one  of  the  prime  factors  in  the  good 
management  of  an  institution.  Unfortunately  the  opportunities  in  this  direction 
are  extremely  limited.  Outside  of  the  necessary  duties  within  the  prison  walls 
and  the  manufacture  of  adobes  for  sale,  the  hill  upon  which  the  prison  is  built 
affords  the  only  means  of  employment.  This  hill  is  evidently  the  remains  of  a 
glacial  moraine,  which  at  some  time  or  other  covered  the  country  hereabouts,  and 
is  made  up  of  blue  clay  and  granite  bowlders.  The  blue  clay  when  screened  makes 
excellent  sidewalks,  and,  as  such,  is  used  by  citizens  of  Yuina,  to  whom  it  is  occa- 
sionally sold  at  the  rate  of  3  wagonloads  for  a  dollar.  The  clay  is  also  largely 
used  for  repairs  and  improvements  about  the  prison." 

ARKANSAS. 

Some  of  the  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  are  employed  on  farms,  culti- 
vating corn,  cotton,  and  food  products  for  the  use  of  the  institution  or  to  be  sold 
on  the  State  account  system;  others  are  hired  or  leased  to  contractors,  but  are 
under  the  management  and  control  of  the  penitentiary  officials.  In  June,  1899, 
there  were  300  working  under  this  system  on  the  railroad,  50  manufacturing  chairs, 
and  50  manufacturing  brick. 

The  following  quotations  are  made  from  the  biennial  report  of  the  State  peni- 
tentiary for  the  years  1897  and  1898: 

"  I  have  never  made  and  gathered  a  crop  under  so  many  difficulties  as  the  crop 
of  1898.  The  first  overflow  compelled  me  to  replant  800  acres;  the  second  over- 
flow, 5,400  acres,  requiring  extra  time  and  labor,  and  making  the  planting  and 
working  of  the  crops  later  than  it  otherwise  would  have  been.  These  facts, 
together  with  the  unprecedented  low  prices  for  the  last  two  years,  have  been 
some  of  the  obstacles  we  have  had  to  contend  with. 

"Our  total  revenues  for  the  years  1897-98  from  sale  of  farm  products,  sale  of 
wood  in  the  city,  and  the  hire  of  convicts  is  $226,969.61. 

' '  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  general  assembly  have  never  appropriated  one  dollar 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  penitentiary  for  the  5  years  1  have  been  connected 
with  it,  we  have  been  compelled  to  make  share  crops,  giving  the  landlord  half  of 
all  the  crops  grown.  The  amount  paid  to  them  during  this  period  exceeds  $250,000. 
I  have,  in  former  reports,  recommended  the  purchase  of  a  large  tract  of  land  for 
a  State  farm,  and  have  no  reason  for  changing  my  views  on  this  subject.  *  *  * 

"  Since  my  last  report  we  have  erected  a  plant  inside  the  walls  for  the  manu- 
facture of  excelsior,  and  now  have  same  running  in  good  order,  and  have  worked 
over  100  carloads  of  cottonwood  into  excelsior  since  we  started  the  plant. 

"We  have  established  at  Palann,  18  miles  west  of  this  city,  a  camp,  where  I 
work  all  the  white  convicts  under  the  age  of  21  years,  also  the  women,  separating 
the  boys  from  the  older  criminals.  There  are  now  43  boys  and  10  men  at  this 
camp.  If  deemed  advisable  a  teacher  could  be  employed  at  this  camp,  and  a  por- 

250A— VOL  III 6 


82  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

tion  of  the  convicts'  time  devoted  to  school  hours,  as  the  building  is  sufficiently 
large  for  all  such  purposes.  We  now  have  confined  in  the  penitentiary  43 
white,  154  black,  and  1  Indian,  who  were  under  21  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
incarceration.  *  *  * 

"  The  penitentiary  has  been  more  than  self-sustaining  during  the  past  2  years. 

"  This  much  has  been  accomplished  under  the  present  system  of  hiring,  leasing, 
renting,  and  share  cropping,  which  I  consider  very  bad,  both  from  a  financial 
standpoint  and  from  the  standpoint  of  humanity. 

"  Under  present  conditions  the  increased  freights  and  transportation  necessi- 
tated to  reach  and  maintain  the  various  camps  largely  diminish  whatever  profits 
might  accrue,  and  the  amounts  paid  for  rent,  considering  the  fact  that  we  are 
abundantly  able  to  buy  a  large  body  of  good  land,  are  an  actual  waste. 

"The  actual  cost  of  operating  and  maintaining  the  penitentiary  is  about 
$100,000  per  year,  and  more  than  15  per  cent  of  this  amount  is  expended  in  the 
two  items  of  freight  and  transportation,  and  about  30  per  cent  in  salaries  alone. 
It  is  a  conservative  estimate  that  out  of  these  three  items,  and  many  others, 
$20,000  could  be  saved  to  the  State  each  year  by  consolidation,  and  the  general 
conditions  and  health  of  the  State's  prisoners  could  be  much  improved.  More- 
over, the  isolation  of  the  camps  from  each  other  and  from  the  penitentiary  walls, 
renders  their  proper  supervision  an  impossibility  and  the  general  management 
defective. 

"  To  obviate  these,  and  many  other  difficulties  which,  under  present  conditions, 
operate  against  the  interests  of  the  State,  and  to  procure  the  numerous  advan- 
tages apparent  in  the  consideration  of  a  State  farm,  and  the  consolidation  of  the 
convicts  under  one  supervision  and  control,  I  most  heartily  endorse  the  recom- 
mendations of  both  my  predecessors  and  the  superintendent  of  the  penitentiary 
in  their  respective  reports  urging  that  the  State  purchase  and  operate  its  own 
convict  farm. 

"That  the  penitentiary  is  abundantly  able  to  purchase,  equip,  and  maintain 
such  a  farm  is  no  longer  a  question. 

"From  a  State  farm  a  part  of  the  able-bodied  convicts  could  be  employed  on 
such  public  work  and  at  such  times  as  the  penitentiary  board  might  determine. 
And  such  manufacturing  enterprises  as  the  class  of  convict  labor  would  justify, 
might  also  be  erected  on  a  State  farm." 

In  some  of  the  counties  the  prisoners  in  jails  are  worked  on  the  public  roads, 
in  others  they  are  leased  to  contractors,  who  work  them  on  farms,  while  in  a 
number  of  the  counties  the  prisoners  in  such  institutions  have  no  employment 
whatever. 

CALIFORNIA. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiaries  are  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  jute 
grain  bags  and  macadam  under  modified  forms  of  the  public-account  system. 
They  are  also  employed  in  various  departments  of  the  institutions  manufacturing 
clothing,  etc. ,  and  in  raising  garden  products  for  the  consumption  of  the  inmates. 

The  following  quotations  from  the  reports  for  the  years  1895  and  1896,  of  the 
prison  wardens  at  the  two  State  prisons,  show  the  character  of  the  industrial 
operations  conducted  at  each. 

From  the  report  for  the  prison  at  Folsom: 

' '  We  began  crushing  rock  for  sale  about  the  middle  of  June,  and  have  continued 
steadily  since.  The  crusher  has  now  been  in  operation  2  months  and  a  half,  and 
has  demonstrated  that,  under  provisions  of  the  law  requiring  the  prison  to  fur- 
nish the  labor  free,  and  the  power  free,  we  can  turn  out  the  very  best  road  metal, 
on  the  cars  at  the  prison,  for  a  minimum  cost  of  25  cents  per  ton.  There  is  in 
sight  enough  first-class  macadam  rock  to  last  several  years.  For  the  mouth  of 
August  we  quarried  and  crushed  over  8. 000  tons,  an  average  of  over  320  tons  daily. 
The  crusher  was  not  operated  more  than  three  hours  and  a  half  daily  to  produce 
this  amount.  For  the  ensuing  season,  when  the  quarry  is  properly  opened,  we 
can  certainly  produce  from  500  to  700  tons  daily. 

"By  arrangement  with  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  the  cost  of 
transportation  was  fixed  at  a  very  low  pate.  Taking  the  two  main  points  of  dis- 
tribution, Sacramento  and  Stockton,  for  example,  the  freight  rate  is  25  cents  per 
ton  to  the  former  and  45  cents  per  ton  to  the  latter.  This  enables  us  to  deliver 
crushed  road  metal  at  Stockton  for  75  cents  per  ton,  and  at  Sacramento  for  50 


PRISON    LABOR.  83 

cents  per  ton.  As  the  former  price  for  similar  road  metal,  although  not  nearly 
so  good,  was  $1.90  per  ton,  delivered  in  each  of  these  two  cities,  it  will  be  readily 
seen  that  an  immense  saving  in  the  cost  of  improving  streets  and  building  roads 
is  effected  by  the  operation  of  this  plant.  A  large  saving  to  the  taxpayers  for  the 
construction  of  streets  and  roads,  having  the  effect  of  lowering  taxes,  is  itself 
compensation  for  the  expense  of  the  plant. 

"  The  power  furnished  for  this  plant  is  delivered  from  our  air  compressor  at  the 
State  power  house.  That  is  inadequate  for  the  purpose,  and  has  been  used  tem- 
porarily because  the  appropriation  made  by  the  last  legislature  was  not  sufficient 
to  purchase  a  compressor  of  proper  size  and  power.  The  legislature  should  pro- 
vide an  additional  appropriation  for  a  250-horsepower  air  compressor. 

' '  For  the  last  9  years  the  many  improvements  at  the  Folsom  prison  have  kept 
constantly  employed  all  the  convicts  confined  therein.  The  question  of  what  we 
shall  do  to  keep  them  employed  in  the  future  must  now  be  met  and  a  proper 
decision  rendered.  It  is  certain  that  public  feeling  in  California  will  not  permit 
the  employment  of  convict  labor  in  competition  with  free  labor;  therefore,  some 
scheme  of  employment  other  than  a  competitive  one  must  be  devised.  The 
convicts  must  be  kept  at  work.  Every  consideration  of  discipline,  economy, 
reformation,  and  health  demands  this.  I  can  not  contemplate  keeping  a  large 
body  of  convicts  in  idleness  without  feeling  that  it  is  a  crime  against  society,  if 
not  against  humanity.  Yet,  it  is  no  less  the  duty  of  the  State  to  give  proper  atten- 
tion to  the  demands  of  thousands  of  honest  citizens  who  have  never  committed 
crime  and  only  demand  the  opportunity  to  labor  for  their  daily  bread. 

' '  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  convicts  at  the  Folsom  prison  might  be  employed 
in  manufacturing  articles  for  the  use  of  the  various  State  institutions.  In  theory 
this  sounds  well,  but  in  practical  operation  it  will  be  found  that  the  demand  is  so 
small  that  as  a  means  of  giving  employment  to  any  considerable  number  of  con- 
victs it  will  prove  a  failure  as  well  as  abortive  in  lessening  expense.  There  are 
only  8,000  inmates  of  State  institutions,  of  which  2,000  are  confined  in  the  State 
prisons.  The  only  articles  that  could  be  manufactured  are  shoes,  blankets,  cloth- 
ing, hats,  brooms,  willow  ware,  and  tinware.  I  have  obtained  statistics  of  all 
public  institutions  in  this  State  as  to  the  amounts  required  yearly  of  these  various 
articles  and  have  made  careful  estimates  of  the  labor  required  to  supply  them. 

"  The  two  prisons  manufacture  their  own  shoes.  This  would  leave  about  1,200 
dozens  to  be  manufactured  for  other  institutions.  Unless  we  tanned  our  own 
leather,  so  as  to  be  independent  of  buying  leather  in  the  open  market,  we  could 
not  turn  out  shoes  for  a  less  price  than  is  now  being  paid  for  them.  The  large 
factories  employing  improved  machinery  almost  eliminate  the  factor  of  labor 
from  the  cost  of  boots  and  shoes.  To  produce  these  articles  cheaply  they  must 
be  manufactured  in  large  quantities,  the  plant  run  regularly,  and  every  item  of 
expense  carefully  guarded.  Otherwise,  the  free  labor  of  the  prisons  would  not 
successfully  compete  against  the  improved  machinery  on  the  outside.  And, 
again,  40  convicts,  with  aid  of  a  sewing  machine  or  two,  could  manufacture  by 
hand  all  the  shoes  required  by  all  the  State  institutions. 

"About  1,500  pairs  of  blankets  are  purchased  annually,  at  an  average  cost  of 
$3.25  each.  The  same  criticism  as  to  the  cost  of  shoe  manufacture  would  apply 
to  a  small  woolen  mill.  To  produce  blankets  cheaply  the  mill  must  be  run  on  a 
large  scale,  and  every  advantage  taken  of  the  market  to  purchase  the  raw  mate- 
rial. The  output  must  be  regular,  and,  in  fact,  strict  business  principles  must 
be  adhered  to  in  every  department  of  the  plant.  It  might  be  said  that  the  woolen 
mill  could  also  produce  cloth  for  clothing;  but  this,  too,  is  extremely  doubtful. 
No  woolen  mill  in  California  has  paid  expenses  for  scuie  years  past.  We  are  now 
buying  prison  cassimere  at  62^  cents,  which  5  years  ago  we  paid  $1.20  for,  and 
other  cloth  in  proportion.  This  could  not  be  turned  out  at  the  prison  for  that 
price  imder  any  circumstances.  The  same  may  be  said  of  other  grades  of  cloth, 
such  as  would  be  used  in  ordinary  suits.  A  plant  of  that  kind  would  be  in  the 
same  condition  as  the  San  Quentin  jute  mill — running  at  a  constant  loss,  on 
account  of  the  limited  output  and  the  unskilled  labor  employed  in  the  mill.  A 
saving  to  the  asylums  and  other  institutions  could  be  made  by  buying  the  cloth 
in  the  open  market  and  making  it  up  into  suits,  either  at  the  asylums  or  at  the 
prisons.  No  expensive  plant  is  required  for  this,  and  a  few  men  could  make  all 
the  suits  necessary  for  the  inmates  of  our  charitable  and  penal  institutions. 

"What  is  true  of  a  woolen  mill  is  true  of  hats,  caps,  etc.  The  amount  to  be 
manufactured  would  not  justify  the  purchase  of  the  machinery;  that  is,  as  an 
element  of  profit  to  the  prisons.  I  do  not  believe  they  could  be  produced  as 
cheaply  as  they  are  now  purchased  in  the  market. 

"  Willow  ware,  but  little  is  used;  and  of  tinware,  the  largest  element  of  cost  is 
in  the  raw  material  and  not  in  the  labor  employed  in  putting  it  together. 


84  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

"  As  all  these  institutions  are  now  supplied  with  furniture,  the  demand  for  that 
for  some  years  to  come  will  be  small. 

"  Again,  the  most  serious  objection  to  convict  labor  is  not  directed  against  the 
output  of  such  labor  so  much  as  against  the  fact  that  the  employment  of  convicts 
at  the  various  trades  has  the  effect  of  discharging  annually  several  hundred  con- 
victs from  prisons  who  are  skilled  operators,  and  thereby  come  in  competition 
with  free  laborers  who  have  not  had  the  opportunity  of  being  educated  in  their 
various  trades  at  the  expense  of  the  State. 

"  It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  the  question  of  utilizing  the  labor  of  con- 
victs must  be  met  by  the  adoption  of  a  broader  and  more  comprehensive  policy 
than  has  heretofore  prevailed.  The  problem  presses  for  a  solution,  and  neither 
conditions  nor  the  public  temper  can  be  ignored  in  the  settlement. 

"  The  labor  unions  of  San  Francisco  have  within  the  past  year  adopted  reso- 
lutions favoring  the  quarrying  of  stone  by  convict  labor  and  placing  it  upon  the 
market  undressed  at  a  low  figure.  This  will  have  the  effect  of  giving  employ- 
ment to  a  large  number  of  laborers  in  preparing  it  for  building  purposes.  While 
it  will  be  injurious  to  some  of  the  quarry  owners,  it  would  be  beneficial  to  a 
large  number  of  stonecutters,  stone  masons,  laborers,  and  others  employed  in 
building,  and  at  the  same  time  afford  an  economical  and  durable  building  material 
for  the  cities  of  our  State.  The  rock-crushing  plant  will  give  employment  to 
about  250  convicts. 

"In  concluding  this  subject,  I  would  recommend,  first,  consolidation  of  the 
two  prisons  into  one  management;  a  reduction  of  the  operating  expenses  to  the 
lowest  possible  cost;  the  purchase  of  additional  lands  adjacent  to  Folsoni  Prison; 
enlarging  the  farm;  raising  more  stock;  producing  a  larger  supply  of  vegetables, 
fruit,  pork,  bacon,  and  even  beef;  and  the  employment  of  a  large  number  of 
prisoners  in  quarrying  stone,  placing  it  upon  the  market  undressed  at  a  price  that 
will  permit  of  its  general  use  as  a  building  material. 

"This  seems  to  be,  at  least  for  some  years  to  come,  a  practical  solution  of  the 
convict-labor  problem.  It  will  take  4  years'  labor  of  all  the  convicts  now  at 
Folsom,  with  200  or  300  more  added,  to  prepare  all  the  necessary  buildings  and 
improvements  for  the  accommodation  of  the  convicts  now  at  the  two  prisons,  and 
I  feel  satisfied  that  a  sufficient  saving  over  the  present  management  can  be  made 
to  fully  repay  the  expense  of  consolidation  within  a  period  or  4  years." 

From  the  report  for  the  prison  at  San  Quentin: 

"As  you  will  perceive,  we  sustained  a  considerable  loss  on  the  jute  goods  sold 
during  the  past  year.  There  are  a  number  of  causes  which  combined  to  make  the 
loss  unavoidable.  In  the  first  place,  the  Wilson  tariff  bill,  which  went  into  effect 
two  years  ago,  placed  grain  bags  made  in  foreign  countries  on  the  free  list,  and 
while  this  had  the  effect  of  reducing  the  price  of  such  bags  imported  in  1895  it  does 
not  appear  to  have  had  the  same  effect  upon  the  price  at  which  the  raw  material 
coulu  then  be  obtained.  Jute  purchased  in  1894,  out  of  which  were  manufactured 
the  bags  we  made  up  to  the  end  of  the  year  ending  June  30,  1895,  commanded  a 
higher  average  price  than  it  had  for  several  years  previous,  and  since  then  we  have 
purchased  jute  at  much  lower  prices. 

"One  of  the  most  serious  drawbacks  we  have  to  contend  against  in  making  ready 
sales  of  our  bags  is  the  law  passed  by  the  legislature  in  1893,  commonly  known  as 
the  Ostrom  Act. 

"While  this  law  evidently  was  intended  for  their  benefit,  yet  a  great  many 
farmers  most  strenuously  object  to  it,  and  in  particular  to  section  3,  which 
requires  an  affidavit  to  be  filed  with  each  order.  In  many  instances  it  is  a  great 
inconvenience  for  a  farmer  to  make  a  special  trip  of  perhaps  20  or  30  miles  in 
order  to  find  a  notary  before  whom  to  make  such  affidavit;  and  while  many  of 
them  consider  the  bags  made  at  the  prison  as  superior,  and  would  use  them  in 
preference  to  any  others,  they  will  not  order  them,  brt  purchase  Calcutta  bags, 
sometimes  at  a  higher  figure,  rather  than  make  the  aluciavit. 

' '  The  general  depression  of  business  and  low  prices  for  wheat  which  have  pre- 
vailed during  the  past  two  years  also  had  a  most  pronounced  effect  against  the 
operation  of  the  law. 

' '  Farmers,  as  a  rule,  have  not  made  any  profit  on  their  crops  during  that  period, 
and  consequently  had  no  ready  money  when  the  time  came  for  them  to  provide 
themselves  with  bags  for  this  season;  therefore  they  were  obliged  to  look  to  the 
merchants,  banks,  and  warehousemen  for  money  if  they  desired  to  use  and  pur- 
chase the  prison  bags;  but  as  most  of  the  merchants  in  the  interior  handle  Cal- 
cutta bags  for  San  Francisco  firms,  the  farmers  were,  most  naturally,  easily 
induced  to  use  the  Calcutta  product.  Owing  to  this  scarcity  of  ready  money, 
many  farmers  who  really  prefer  our  bags  were  thus  prevented  from  ordering  and 
using  them. 


PRISON    LABOR.  85 

"  The  low  price  fixed  by  your  honorable  board,  and  to  which  you  adhered  all 
through  the  season,  has,  however,  had  a  most  decided  tendency  to  prevent  San 
Francisco  dealers  from  raising  the  price  of  imported  bags.  This  they  were 
undoubtedly  prepared  to  do,  as  the  imports  for  this  season  were  just  about  suffi- 
cient to  supply  the  demand,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  higher  price  would  have 
been  asked  if  the  prison  authorities  had  shown  the  slightest  disposition  to  start 
such  an  advance.  Keeping  down  the  price  as  we  did  prevented  the  dealers  from 
forming  combinations  with  a  view  to  advance  the  market,  and  in  order  to  get  rid 
of  their  stock  importers  were  obliged  to  sell  their  bags  at  such  low  prices  that 
they  realized  but  a  very  small,  if  any,  profit. 

"  Thus  our  loss  this  year  has  been  really,  and  in  fact  has  been,  a  gain  and  bene- 
fit to  the  farming  community  of  the  State,  as  had  we  fixed  a  higher  price  the 
market  for  Calcutta  bags  would  also  have  been  advanced,  and  all  the  farmers 
would  have  been  obliged  to  pay  a  higher  price  for  their  bags,  no  matter  what 
kind  they  used. 

"  The  law  as  it  stands  will  always  place  us  at  a  disadvantage  in  disposing  of 
the  total  output  of  the  jute  mill,  for  the  reason,  principally,  that  all  the  farmers 
who  would  use  our  bags  are  not  in  a  position,  financially,  to  place  their  orders 
direct  with  us,  but  are  dependent  upon  middlemen  to  procure  bags  for  them;  and 
while  the  law  was  intended  to  benefit  and  protect  the  farmers,  its  operation 
practically  has  an  opposite  effect. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  current  year  a  change  was  made  in  the  management 
of  the  jute  mills,  and  the  present  superintendent,  appointed  upon  the  recommen- 
dation of  your  honorable  board,  made  a  number  of  improvements  and  changes  in 
the  arrangement  and  working  of  various  machines,  which  are  claimed  by  him 
will  have  the  effect  of  increasing  the  output  and  reducing  the  cost  of  manu- 
facture. 

"  It  has  been  suggested  and  advised  that  it  would  be  profitable  to  engage  in  the 
manufacture  of  other  lines  of  jute  goods  besides  grain  bags;  however,  it  appears 
that  if  we  did  so  we  should  come  in  competition  with  the  free  labor  of  this  State, 
and  in  particular  with  that  employed  by  the  California  Cotton  Mills,  at  Oakland, 
which  factory  makes  a  specialty  of  supplying  this  coast  with  ore,  bean,  and  other 
similar  bags.  The  only  bags  other  than  those  used  for  grain,  of  which  large 
quantities  are  used,  and  which  are  not  manufactured  elsewhere  in  this  State,  are 
sugar  bags,  and  we  have  succeeded  during  the  last  few  months  in  securing  sev- 
eral contracts  for  the  manufacture  of  these  at  a  figure  which  will  leave  us  some 
profit.  The  manufacture  of  these  bags,  together  with  the  anticipated  increased 
output  and  reduced  cost  of  production,  will  doubtless  lead  to  better  results  and  a 
more  profitable  showing  at  the  end  of  the  ensuing  fiscal  year  than  we  have  been 
able  to  attain  during  the  year  just  past." 

There  is  no  system  for  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  the  county  jails.  Pris- 
oners in  the  city  jails  are  worked  on  the  public  streets  and  roads. 

COLORADO. 

In  their  biennial  report  covering  the  2  years  ending  November  30, 1896,  the  com- 
missioners of  the  State  penitentiary  state  as  follows: 

"The  prisoners  are  employed  in  burning  lime,  making  building  brick,  quarry- 
ing lime  and  sandstone,  dressing  building  stone,  gardening  on  ground  leased  by 
the  State  for  prison  purposes,  and  in  the  general  work  of  the  prison,  including  the 
making  of  their  own  clothing. 

"If  the  board  of  commissioners  had  the  power  to  use  the  prison  labor  within 
the  walls  so  that  all  the  prisoners  could  be  worked  in  shops  it  would  greatly 
reduce  the  expenses  of  the  institution  and  increase  the  earnings,  be  a  benefit  to 
the  prisoners,  in  that  they  would  be  released  with  a  good  trade,  and  it  would  help 
in  the  way  of  discipline  and  in  a  great  many  measures  of  reform  that  are  now 
impossible  when  prisoners  are  worked  outside,  where  the  vicious  and  bad  are 
necessarily  mixed  with  those  with  whom  they  should  not  be,  and  intercourse 
among  them  can  not  be  entirely  stopped.  It  seems  to  us  that  any  article  or  com- 
modity manufactured  outside  the  walls  comes  as  much  in  competition  with  out- 
side labor  as  that  done  inside  the  walls.  Our  idea  of  the  matter  is  that  we  should 
do  as  much  for  the  prisoner  while  here  as  possible  to  make  a  better  man  of  him 
and  fit  him,  if  possible,  when  he  leaves  the  place,  to  earn  his  own  living,  so  that 
there  will  be  less  likelihood  of  his  returning  to  a  life  of  crime  by  teaching  him  a 
trade.  At  the  same  time  we  feel  that  while  here  he  should,  as  much  as  possible, 


86  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

be  required  to  earn  as  much  as  he  can  to  pay  for  his  keeping.  We  feel  that  these 
ends  can  better  be  accomplished  by  manufacturing  within  the  walls  on  State 
account.  *  *  * 

"During  the  months  of  December,  1895,  January,  February,  March,  April,  and 
November,  1896,  we  have  had  75  prisoners  employed  in  the  construction  of  a  State 
canal. 

"  The  main  difficulty  arises  from  a  lack  of  employment  for  prisoners.  How  to 
employ  our  prison  population  is  one  of  the  vexed  problems  of  the  day.  How  shall 
prisoners  be  employed  so  the  product  of  their  labor  will  not  be  brought  into  com- 
petition with  free  labor?  Convicts  during  confinement  need  constant  employ- 
ment to  save  them  from  destruction  and  degradation.  Must  prisoners  be  confined 
in  idleness,  driving  them  to  insanity — driving  many  to  such  infractions  of  the 
rules  as  make  punishment  necessary?  This  is  a  matter  that  should  receive  care- 
ful consideration.  As  the  sale  of  lime  is  greatly  decreasing  and  the  revenue  from 
the  quarries  is  growing  less  every  day,  it  is  apparent  that  some  other  means  of 
production  must  be  provided.  In  view  of  these  facts  I  would  recommend  that 
steps  be  taken  toward  providing  the  prisoners  with  some  suitable  employment 
inside  the  walls  of  the  prison  which  will  not  be  in  direct  competition  with  free 
labor — employment  which  will  be  most  beneficial  to  the  prisoner,  at  the  same 
time  least  detrimental  to  free  labor,  and,  if  possible,  remunerative  to  the  State.  I 
would  recommend,  after  a  careful  survey  of  the  premises,  that  the  manufacturing 
of  boots  and  shoes  be  undertaken,  as  there  would  be  less  objection  to  this  industry 
than  to  any  other. 

"  First.  In  this  industry  the  convict  labor  would  not  necessarily  be  competitive, 
as  there  is  very  little  free  labor  employed  in  this  industry  in  the  Western  country. 

"  Second.  It  would  be  profitable  to  the  people  of  Colorado  in  producing  a  much 
cheaper,  yet  as  good  if  not  better,  article  than  that  which  is  secured  from  Eastern 
prisons,  for  a  large  percentage  of  the  boots  and  shoes  used  in  this  State  is  made 
by  convict  labor  in  Eastern  prisons;  and  why  keep  our  own  convicts  in  enforced 
idleness? 

"  Third.  It  would  be  a  step  in  the  direction  of  placing  this  institution  upon  a 
self-supporting  basis,  thereby  relieving  the  people  of  a  great  burden,  as  every 
dollar  earned  by  them  in  prison  saves  that  much  to  an  overburdened  and  over- 
taxed public. 

"For  these  reasons  and  those  already  cited  in  regard  to  the  preservation  of  the 
prisoners,  morally,  mentally,  and  physically,  some  steps  ought  to  be  taken  in  this 
direction.  It  has  been  my  experience  in  this  institution,  where  prisoners  have 
come  to  me  and  almost  begged  for  employment,  to  relieve  them  from  the  solitude 
of  their  cells.  This  perplexing  question  should  be  met  in  the  coming  legislature, 
and  I  recommend  that  the  legislature  make  an  appropriation  for  the  erection  of 
proper  buildings  and  the  purchase  of  the  necessary  tools  and  implements  to  carry 
on  this  industry." 

The  following  information  relative  to  the  employment  of  the  convicts  of  the 
State  during  1899  has  been  furnished  by  Mr.  Clarence  P.  Hoyt,  warden  of  the 
State  penitentiary: 

"  The  last  biennial  report  of  this  institution  gives  very  meager  information  along 
the  lines  of  employment  of  prisoners  at  this  institution.  Since  compiling  this 
report  considerable  has  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  furnishing  employment 
to  the  585  prisoners  by  making  necessary  repairs  and  improvements  to  the  State 
property,  so  that  at  this  date  we  have  an  average  of  530  prisoners  daily  employed. 
The  balance  of  our  population  are  not  at  the  present  time  engaged  in  any  occupa- 
tion, on  account  of  being  incapacitated  by  sickness  or  other  satisfactory  reasons. 

' '  We  have  an  average  of  50  men  working  daily  on  the  gardens  and  ranches,  rais- 
ing crops ,  which ,  while  they  make  very  little  return  in  cash  to  the  institution ,  make 
a  material  reduction  in  the  cost  of  maintenance. 

"We  have  62  men  working  in  the  stone  quarries  and  stone  sheds,  preparing 
dressed  and  undressed  stone  for  building  purposes,  for  which  we  find  a  ready 
market. 

"  Our  blacksmith  and  wagon  shop  is  occupied  by  13  mechanics,  doing  work  in 
this  line  for  the  institution. 

"We  are  doing  a  very  satisfactory  business  quarrying  limestone  and  burning 
the  same  for  the  market.  This  branch  employs  an  average  of  75  men,  and  we  find 
a  ready  market  throughout  the  State  for  the  product  of  their  labor. 

"  We  are  employing  about  20  men  daily  in  building  a  State  road,  which  is  to 
reach  from  the  city  of  Pueblo,  on  the  eastern  slope,  to  Grand  Junction,  on  the 
western  slope,  near  Utah  line. 


PRISON    LABOR.  87 

"Our  carpenter  and  paint  shop  finds  constant  employment  for  an  average  of 
20  men,  their  labor  being  confined  entirely  to  building  and  repairing  for  the 
institution. 

' '  Our  tailor  and  shoe  shop  and  tobacco  factory  engage  the  constant  attention 
of  about  25  men  in  manufacturing  clothing,  shoes,  and  tobacco  for  the  inmates. 

' '  Thirty  hands  are  employed  in  our  washhouse  ;  2  in  the  soap  factory ;  22  in 
our  boiler  and  dynamo  room.  Fifty-five  hands  are  employed  in  the  dining  rooms, 
kitchens,  and  bakery;  and  the  balance  of  the  530  who  find  daily  employment  are 
engaged  in  various  occupations  in  and  about  the  premises. 

"  It  is  the  aim  of  the  present  management  to  secure  the  establishment  within 
our  walls  of  such  manufacturing  enterprises  as  will  in  the  least  degree  come  in 
competition  with  free  labor.  Organized  labor  within  our  State  has  pursued  the 
foolish  policy  of  protesting  against  the  employment  of  convict  labor  in  any  enter- 
prise which  would  in  the  least  degree  come  in  competition  with  their  profession, 
while  they  have  no  hesitancy  in  going  into  the  markets  and  purchasing  these 
products  of  manufactories  conducted  within  the  confines  of  Eastern  penitentiaries. 
The  present  laws  in  this  State  on  the  subject  of  convict  labor  are  very  liberal, 
and  we  will,  no  doubt,  within  a  short  time  close  an  agreement  whereby  a  more 
remunerative  system  of  employment  will  be  obtained  for  our  convicts  that  will 
meet  with  little,  if  any,  objections  from  labor  unions." 

They  have  no  workhouse  or  manufactories  of  any  kind  in  the  county  jails  in 
this  State. 

The  biennial  report  of  the  commissioners  and  warden  of  the  State  reforma- 
tory for  the  years  ending  November  30,  1898,  contains  the  following  statement 
in  regard  to  the  employment  of  the  inmates  in  that  institution. 

"  The  financial  statement  of  this  institution  always  shows  a  large  balance 
against  it.  This  is  because  the  labor  of  its  inmates  is  not  valuable.  Of  course 
they  work.  They  are  employed  in  making  improvements  and  beautifying  the 
grounds.  They  cut  and  haul  all  the  wood  the  institution  uses  for  fuel. 

"  The  wood  is  becoming  scarce.  We  have  now  to  go  12  to  14  miles  for  it,  and 
it  will  soon  be  impossible  to  give  them  work  in  that  line,  as  has  been  done  in 
the  past. 

"  In  the  summer  season  they  are  employed  on  the  farm;  besides  the  reformatory 
farm  proper  of  400  acres  we  have  the  farm  of  160  acres  joining  on  the  south, 
which,  with  the  sanction  of  your  Honorable  Board,  I  leased  during  the  past  year 
for  a  term  of  five  years. 

"  Our  principal  crop  is  hay  ;  however,  we  raise  potatoes,  onions,  beets,  and  some 
wheat.  Also  peas,  potatoes,  and  artichokes.  The  altitude  is  so  great  that  the 
season  is  very  short.  Frost  and  hail  have  been  a  great  drawback  to  our  farming 
interests. 

"  The  inmates  take  care  of  the  stock,  milk  tha  cows,  do  the  baking  and  cooking, 
make  their  own  clothes  and  shoes,  etc.  In  fact,  they  do  all  the  work.  While 
this  work  is  not  strictly  remunerative  to  the  State,  it  explains  how  we  are  able  to 
provide  the  wholesome  food  we  do  at  so  small  a  cost  per  diem. 

"  Since  taking  charge  of  the  institution  I  have  kept  them  employed  in  some 
way,  believing  that  it  is  better  for  them.  They  are  in  school  or  at  work ;  we 
have  no  idle  prisoners  here. 

"  The  ambition  of  every  warden  should  be  to  make  the  institution  as  nearly 
self-supporting  as  possible.  Our  reports  show  that  we  have  fallen  far  short  of  so 
doing.  Yet  we  have  labored  in  that  direction,  and  with  a  remarkable  degree  of 
success,  considering  the  conditions  under  which  we  have  worked." 

CONNECTICUT. 

The  directors  of  the  State  prison,  in  their  report  for  the  year  1898,  state  as 
follows: 

"The  average  number  of  prisoners  during  the  year  was  505. 6,  and  the  average 
daily  per  capita  cost  of  maintenance  was  $0.3803.  Three  hundred  and  thirty-two 
of  the  convicts  were  employed  under  contract,  and  of  this  number  240  were  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  at  the  rate  of  50  cents  per  day  per  prisoner, 
and  92  in  the  manufacture  of  shirts  at  the  rate  of  5  cents  per  dozen. 

"  Owing  to  the  exceeding  poor  year  for  raising  farm  products,  especially  pota- 
toes, this  industry  shows  a  net  loss  for  the  year  of  $1,224.86,  the  amount  nearly 
equaling  the  gain  made  the  previous  year.  It  was  intended  to  add  to  the  acreage 
under  cultivation,  but  owing  to  the  inability  of  hiring  10  or  12  acres  together,  or 
in  proximity  to  the  land  already  leased,  the  matter  fell  through.  As  will  be  seen 


88  UNITED   STATES   INDUSTRIAL   COMMISSION. 

by  the  following  figures,  showing  the  profits  made  by  the  fanning  industry  for  the 
previous  years,  it  is  clearly  demonstrated  that  a  farm  can  be  carried  on  profitably 
by  the  institution;  also  that  a  farm  furnishes  a  kind  and  quantity  of  food  to  the 
inmates  at  a  nominal  cost  that  could  not  be  afforded  if  purchased,  adding  greatly 
to  the  variety  of  the  food  furnished,  and  thereby  materially  aiding  in  the  reten- 
tion of  health  while  under  confinement.  Added  to  this  is  the  fact  that  it  gives 
remunerative  employment  to  the  tramp  class  committed  here,  which  could  not  be 
found  here  otherwise;  and  it  also  furnishes  a  place  for  labor  in  the  open  air  for 
those  who,  by  long  confinement  or  disease,  are  running  down  in  health,  thereby 
better  enabling  them  to  earn  a  livelihood  upon  their  discharge. 

"  In  view  of  the  above  facts,  and  others  that  might  be  cited,  I  would  urgently 
recommend  that  farming  lands  be  purchased  of  sufficient  acreage  to  raise  all  the 
farm  products  required  for  the  use  of  the  institution." 

In  response  to  a  request  for  further  information,  the  warden  states  that: 

"  Under  each  system  that  the  convicts  are  worked  the  State  retains  full  super- 
vision over  them  while  at  work,  and  no  authority  over  their  discipline  is  rested 
in  the  contractors.  The  productsof  the  penal  industries  command  practically  the 
standard  market  price,  and  the  competitive  effect  of  the  prison  labor  upon  the 
free  labor  of  the  State  is  scarcely  appreciable.  Not  over  one  State  prison  convict 
to  every  2,500  inhabitants  of  the  State  is  productively  employed.7' 

In  the  large  jails  the  inmates  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  chairs  under 
the  contract  system,  also  in  farming,  gardening,  etc.,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
inmates. 

The  inmates  of  the  State  Reformatory  are  engaged  in  caning  chairs,  under  con- 
tract or  piece-price  system,  also  in  carpentering,  printing,  shoemaking,  laundry 
work,  farming,  and  baking. 

DELAWARE. 

Prisoners  in  this  State  are  confined  without  employment  in  the  county  jails, 
except  in  Newcastle  County,  where  a  penitentiary  is  being  erected.  "When  this 
penitentiary  is  completed  the  prisoners  in  that  county  will  be  employed  as  in  the 
penitentiaries  of  other  States. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

Prisoners  at  the  workhouse  are  employed  in  grading  streets  and  roads  of  the 
District,  and  cleaning  grounds:  also  making  roadways  in  the  Rock  Creek  park. 

Inmates  of  the  reform  school  are  engaged  in  farm  work,  raising  supplies  for  the 
inmates,  and  also  in  manufacturing  under  the  public-account  system. 

FLORIDA. 

The  State  convicts  are  all  worked  under  the  lease  system  in  the  phosphate 
mines  or  in  the  manufacture  of  naval  stores. 

A  special  committee  was  appointed  by  the  legislature  to  investigate  the  con- 
dition of  the  convicts  and  convict  camps,  and  submitted  a  report.  May  19. 1899. 
This  committee  reported  that  the  laws  and  rules  for  the  government  of  the  con- 
victs were  being  violated  in  many  particulars.  The  commissioner  of  agriculture 
for  the  State,  who  has  general  charge  of  the  convicts,  states  that  he  is  opposed  to 
the  lease  system,  but  that  it  seems  to  be  the  best  that  can  be  done  in  Florida  at 
this  time. 

The  county  convicts  are  worked  under  lease  of  the  county  commissioners  of 
each  county,  or  are  given  no  employment  whatever. 

GEORGIA. 

The  methods  for  employing  convicts  have  been  changed  materially  during  the 
past  two  years.  The  State  convicts  are  controlled  by  a  commission.  The  labor 
is  hired  to  various  parties  for  a  term  of  5  years,  in  companies  of  not  less  than  50 
nor  more  than  500,  engaged  in  the  following  pursuits:  Iron  and  coal  mining:  saw- 
milling:  turpentining;  building  railroads,  and  farming:  the  State  employing  all 


PRISON    LABOR.  89 

officers  and  guards,  and  retaining  absolute  control.  In  addition  to  the  above 
employment,  the  State  owns  a  farm  on  which  is  located  the  central  penitentiary. 
All  females,  juveniles,  aged,  and  infirm  convicts  are  placed  on  this  farm  and 
employed  at  such  labor  as  they  are  able  to  perform,  time  and  opportunity  being 
given  them  to  improve  their  moral  and  religious  status. 

The  following  quotations  from  the  first  annual  report  of  the  prison  commission 
for  the  year  ending  October  1,  1898,  indicate  the  present  methods  and  the  contem- 
plated operations: 

"As  required  by  the  act  of  the  general  assembly,  the  commission  advertised,  in 
3  daily  papers  and  10  weeklies,  to  hire  the  labor  of  those  convicts  not  required  to 
be  placed  upon  the  farm,  to  the  highest  bidders,  estimating  this  class  at  1,800, 
thereby  allowing  a  liberal  margin,  so  that  no  complication  could  arise  from  hav- 
ing contracted  to  deliver  a  larger  number  than  might  be  available. 

••  The  bids  accepted  averaged  in  price  $99.13  per  capita  per  annum,  aggregating 
$178,450  per  annum  for  the  labor  of  1,800  convicts. 

"  Bids  for  labor  on  turpentine  f arms  were  rejected  for  the  following  reasons: 
A  much  larger  cost  to  the  State  in  guarding  convicts  so  engaged;  a  larger  risk  of 
escapes;  and  difficulty  in  keeping  the  clothing  of  the  convicts  and  the  buildings 
clean. 

"  When  it  is  remembered  that  for  several  years  past  there  has  been  an  effort  to 
deprecate  the  value  of  convict  labor,  and  serious  doubts  were  expressed  as  to  the 
ability  of  the  State  to  hire  this  labor  on  satisfactory  terms,  this  result  is  very 
gratifying. 

"  Under  the  lease  contracts  which  have  been  in  operation  nearly  20  years,  and 
which  will  terminate  on  April  1,  1899,  the  State  received  a  gross  revenue  for  the 
hire  of  all  the  convicts  of  only  $25,000  per  annum,  and  as  for  a  number  of  years 
the  average  prison  population  has  exceeded  2,500,  the  cost  of  this  labor  to  the 
lessees  has  been  less  than  $10  per  capita  per  annum,  exclusive  of  maintenance. 

"At  the  same  time  that  the  commission  advertised  for  the  hire  of  convict  labor 
it  also  run,  as  provided  for  by  the  statutes,  an  advertisement  for  the  purchase  of 
not  less  than  2  nor  more  than  5.000  acres  of  land.  To  this  advertisement  the  com- 
mission received  more  than  100  offers,  at  prices  ranging  from  $2  to  $15  per  acre. 

"  Considering  all  of  this  matter  and  weighing  carefully  each  argument  for  and 
against  the  sites  offered,  the  commission  finally  selected  and  purchased  a  tract  of 
land  in  Baldwin  County  containing  3,334  acres,  at  and  for  the  sum  of  $20,500,  or 
a  cost  of  $6.14  per  acre. 

' '  Owing  to  the  constant  changes  in  the  prison  population  it  is  impossible  to 
determine,  except  in  the  case  of  the  women  and  boys,  accurately,  now,  just  how 
many  convicts  must  be  provided  for  at  the  farm. 

"  It  is  problematical  whether  200  convicts  can  be  profitably  employed  on  a  farm 
of  the  size  which  has  been  bought,  for  necessarily  there  must  be  a  large  propor- 
tion of  this  land  which  can  not  and  ought  not  to  be  put  under  immediate  culti- 
vation. 

"In  looking  into  this  matter  of  providing  employment  the  commission  has 
carefully  considered  many  plans,  and  can  only  give  a  general  idea  of  what  will 
probably  be  done;  and  in  this  connection  considering  carefully  the  advisability 
of  engaging  a  part  of  these  convicts  in  manufacturing  clothing  for  all  the  State 
convicts,  misdemeanor  convicts,  and  such  garments  as  are  bought  or  contracted 
for  by  the  Georgia  State  Sanitarium  and  at  other  public  institutions.  Contracts 
can  be  made  with  the  present  contractors  whose  duty  it  is  to  supply  the  convicts 
with  these  garments,  and  if  the  general  assembly  will  support  this  proposition  by 
legislation  which  will  be  hereafter  suggested,  the  misdemeanor  convicts  and 
inmates  of  the  public  institutions  can  also  be  supplied. 

"There  can  be  no  income  from  the  State  farm  until  a  crop  has  been  made  and 
harvested,  unless  from  the  industries  heretofore  mentioned;  therefore  provision 
must  be  made  for  the  maintenance  of  all  convicts  on  the  farm  for  at  least  one 
year. 

"  But  the  future  of  the  system  will  depend  upon  the  encouragement  and  assist- 
ance given  the  commission  by  the  legislature.  If  the  penitentiary  is  to  be  used 
as  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  State,  a  means  entirely  foreign  to  the  most  advanced 
idea  of  prison  management  and  unheard  of  in  the  most  prosperous  States,  and  the 
commission  is  to  be  dependent,  year  after  year,  upon  limited  appropriations,  in 
order  that  the  revenue  from  this  source  may  be  as  large  as  possible,  the  system 
will  be  a  failure,  and  at  the  end  of  5  years  the  State  will  be  again  confronted  with 
the  problem.  But  if  the  income  from  this  source  is  used  in  building  up  a  system 
that  will  reflect  the  intelligence  and  humanity  of  the  State,  and  be  an  ornament 
instead  of  a  disgrace  to  civilization,  every  particle  of  income  from  this  source 
necessary  to  build  it  up  should  be  devoted  to  the  work. 


90  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

"  The  commission  respectfully  suggests  that  a  law  be  passed  by  the  general 
assembly  requiring  all  county  and  municipal  corporations,  and  authorities  in 
control  of  State  institutions,  prices  and  quality  being  equal,  to  purchase  from  the 
State  prison  such  articles  as  can  be  supplied  by  it,  for  the  public  use,  in  prefer- 
ence to  any  other  bidder  or  competitor.  This  is  the  present  law  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  has  been  found  there,  after  various  experiments  to  be  practical 
and  wise.  It  furnishes  employment  for  the  convicts  at  remunerative  profits,  and 
under  it  the  prisoners  of  that  State  are  rapidly  becoming  self-supporting.  Under 
such  a  law  in  Georgia,  the  clothing  of  all  felony  and  misdemeanor  convicts,  and 
inmates  of  other  institutions,  could  be  furnished  by  the  prison,  and  a  number  of 
the  convicts  be  engaged  in  profitable  work.  Other  industries  of  a  similar  nature, 
manufacturing  articles  for  public  use  only,  and  such  as  are  not  made  now  in  this 
State,  might  be  ultimately  established  upon  a  paying  basis." 

The  first  year  of  the  active  operation  of  the  new  convict  law  ended  on  April  1 , 
1900.  The  report  for  the  year  shows  that  the  new  system  has  brought  into  the 
treasury  $200,389.13,  not  including  a  profit  of  $5,000  on  the  prison  farm  at 
Milledgeville.  Of  this  amount  $120,000  was  appropriated  to  meet  the  expenses  of 
the  department;  and,  as  not  all  of  this  appropriation  was  needed,  there  will  be 
left  to  the  State,  at  the  lowest  figure,  a  profit  of  $85,000  for  the  year  as  a  result 
of  its  experiment. 

IDAHO. 

Convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  employed  in  quarrying  stone  to  be  used  in 
building  a  new  cell  house;  in  making  excavations  to  secure  a  supply  of  water  for 
the  prison:  in  working  the  prison  farm  to  raise  supplies  for  the  use  of  the  insti- 
tution, and  also  as  cooks,  waiters,  tailors,  laundrymen,  etc.,  in  the  prison.  The 
warden  in  his  annual  report  for  the  year  ending  November  30,  1898,  states  that — 

"The  stone  quarries  opened  up  during  the  preceding  years  have  been  worked 
and  more  fiylly  developed  during  the  past  year.  All  the  rock  used  in  the  buildings 
erected  during  this  period  have  been  easily  and  cheaply  secured.  The  quarries. 
of  which  there  are  three,  will  furnish  all  the  rock  required  for  many  years  in 
prison  building. 

"From  15  to  20  convicts  have  been  employed  in  cutting  stone  during  the 
spring  and  summer.  They  have  been  under  the  direction  of  a  prisoner  who 
learned  his  trade  at  the  prison,  and  who  is  competent  to  direct  all  the  work 
required  cutting  lintels,  arches,  door  and  window  sills,  brackets,  and  all  the  ashlar 
used  in  the  building." 

In  calling  attention  to  the  limited  water  supply  for  irrigating  purposes,  he  says: 

"  By  using  prison  labor,  we  could  in  one  year  build  a  ditch  from  the  river  to 
the  upper  portion  of  the  prison  reservation,  thus  giving  a  system  that  would 
afford  a  complete  water  supply  that  would  irrigate  40  acres  more  of  our  best  land 
that  can  not  at  present  be  irrigated,  affording  an  opportunity  of  raising  hay  for 
the  stock  and  increasing  the  supply  of  winter  vegetables." 

The  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  may  be  worked  on  the  public  roads,  but  there 
is  no  plan  for  their  systematic  employment. 

ILLINOIS. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiaries  are  worked  under  the  State  account 
system.  A  number  of  the  prisoners  are  also  employed  on  the  farms,  about  the 
institutions,  and  in  manufacturing  the  necessary  supplies  for  the  same,  also  in 
repairing  and  making  additions  to  the  buildings. 

It  appears  from  the  report  of  the  penitentiary  at  Joliet  that  during  the  year  1897 
the  convicts  were  engaged  in  manufacturing  oak  chairs,  cooperage,  brooms, 
cigars,  and  k»it  goods,  and  cutting  stone  on  the  State  account  system.  The  results 
of  the  operations  for  the  year  are  summarized  as  follows: 

Loss  on  the  business  of  the  different  industries $69, 298. 43 

Cost  of  maintenance  of  prisoners  while  employed 50, 198. 94 

Total  loss..  .  119,497.37 


PRISON    LABOR.  91 

The  commissioners  of  the  penitentiary,  in  their  report  for  1898,  state  that — 

"In  the  very  nature  of  things,  and  also  as  a  matter  of  history  during  the  last 
administration,  industries  operated  as  these  were,  with  the  output  fixed  by  the 
necessity  of  keeping  the  prisoners  employed  at  all  times,  and  the  markets  for  the 
products  variable,  the  State  would  often  accumulate  an  over  plus,  which  it  had 
to  sell  at  some  price,  because  it  was  not  and  had  not  been  capitalized  to  carry 
indefinitely  such  a  stock  as  would  soon  develop.  It  was,  therefore,  forced  to 
demoralize  the  market  by  selling  below  it,  and,  in  many  instances,  at  less  than 
cost  and  at  a  loss  to  the  State.  The  pernicious  use  of  such  a  practice  injured  free 
labor  first,  for  when  the  cost  of  raw  material  is  reached  by  the  outside  manufac- 
turer he  must  reduce  the  price  of  labor,  and  when  that  too  is  absorbed  by  this 
unfair  competition  of  the  State  the  outside  shop  must  quit.  It  is  needless  to 
observe  that  the  greater  the  number  of  these  competitive  industries  the  more 
widespread  the  demoralization  to  outside  labor. 

"  To  render  this  institution  self-supporting,  while  a  very  natural  and  possibly 
in  some  respects  a  laudable  ambition  on  the  part  of  its  officers,  is  by  no  means  the 
supreme  test  of  administrative  success;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  should  they  be 
excused  from  wasting  the  energy  of  the  prisoners  by  embarking  in  hazardous 
enterprises  which  experience  teaches  have  nearly  always  resulted  not  only  in 
entire  loss  of  labor  expended,  but  also  in  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  the 
people. 

"  The  penitentiary  occupies  such  an  independent  position  under  the  law  that 
there  is  no  occasion  for  its  taking  any  risk  whatever  for  a  single  industry  within 
its  walls.  The  law  requires  the  prisoner  to  be  kept  at  hard  labor,  therefore  his 
energy  is  the  only  thing  to  dispose  of,  and  the  management  is  not  authorized  in 
risking  the  people's  money  in  experimental  factories.  Let  the  outsider  furnish 
the  material  which  the  energy  of  the  prisoner  will  work  up  into  goods  and  wares. 
He  can  and  does  control  enough  capital  not  only  to  buy  in  the  lowest  market  and 
take  advantage  of  every  discount,  but  he  escapes  the  embargo  laid  on  State 
products  by  boycotts  and  prejudice.  He  can  also  store  his  goods  until  the  market 
will  receive  them,  rather  than  force  the  market  and  the  free  labor  down  by  the 
ruinous  necessity  of  selling  below,  as  the  State  had  to  do.  We  do  not  believe  that 
it  should  be  the  policy  of  the  State  to  enter  into  competition  with  its  citizens,  but 
the  law  requires  the  prisoners  to  be  kept  at  hard  labor,  and  we  think  it  should  be 
the  policy  of  the  management,  in  fairness  to  outside  labor,  to  outside  industries, 
and  the  taxpayer,  to  get  the  highest  possible  price  for  the  work  of  the  prisoner;  to 
use  every  reasonable  endeavor  to  supply  his  necessities,  to  keep  him  in  health,  to 
treat  him  in  such  a  manner  that  if  reformation  is  possible  it  may  be  accomplished, 
and  to  apply  the  same  careful  business  methods  to  State  affairs  which  private 
interests  outside  would  demand;  then  let  the  people  pay  whatever  deficit — and 
there  will  be  one — for  this  institution  is  not  now,  and  probably  never  will  be,  self- 
sustaining.  It  would  seem  that  this  theory  is  not  at  variance  with  the  constitu- 
tion and  allows  the  burden  to  rest  equally  on  each  interest  affected.  It  is  fair  to 
the  outside  labor  (which  would  have  to  meet  the  competition  of  the  labor  of  the 
prisoner  were  he  free) ,  fair  to  outside  factories  by  preventing  ruinous  competition 
and  disturbed  markets,  and  fair  to  the  taxpayer,  whose  burden  is  lessened  by 
whatever  earnings  the  institution  can  show." 

The  principal  industries  conducted  in  the  penitentiary  at  Chester  are  the  manu- 
factiire  of  hollow  ware,  knit  goods,  and  brick,  also  stonework  and  quarrying. 

Prisoners  in  the  houses  of  correction  and  county  jails  are  worked  under  the 
State  account  system  in  the  manufacture  of  bricks,  brooms,  and  other  articles, 
ana  also  in  breaking  rock  for  macadam  and  in  the  general  work  incident  to  the 
institutions. 

INDIANA. 

The  biennial  report  of  the  Indiana  State  prison  for  the  two  years  ending  Octo 
ber  31,  1898,  contains  the  following  information  concerning  the  industrial  opera- 
tions of  the  institution.  Convicts  are  worked  under  contracts,  as  follows:  Two 
hundred  men  at  40  cents  per  day,  50  men  at  42  cents  per  day,  and  130  men  at  32£ 
cents  per  day.  These  convicts  were  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and 
shoes,  chairs,  woolen  goods,  and  cooperate. 

The  warden  makes  the  following  recommendations: 

"  I  believe  that  the  plan  of  leasing  a  sufficient  amount  of  land  adjacent  to  the 
prison  farm,  and  working  on  this  land  from  200  to  300  of  our  prison  population 
composed  of  the  older  and  short-term  men,  would  be  one  of  the  best  methods  of 


92  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

solving  in  part  the  question  of  labor  in  this  institution.  This  land  can  be  leased 
for  a  number  years  at  a  price  not  to  exceed  $1.75  per  acre,  upon  which  could  be 
raised  potatoes,  cabbage,  tomatoes,  and  other  vegetables  in  sufficient  quantities 
to  more  than  meet  the  needs  of  this  institution.  The  surplus  could  be  shipped  to 
other  State  institutions  not  having  the  advantage  of  a  farm.  After  the  plowing 
of  this  land  is  done,  it  could  be  worked  entirely  by  hand,  not  being  necessary  to 
purchase  any  improved  machinery  for  its  successful  cultivation. 

"  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  institution  is  now  the  prison  of  the  State, 
to  which  are  committed  the  life  prisoners,  prisoners  with  long  terms  of  sentence. 
and  prisoners  of  such  character  that  it  would  not  be  safe  or  practical  to  work  out- 
side of  the  walls.  For  this  class  of  men  (not  exceeding  50  per  cent  of  our  popula- 
tion) I  believe  a  system  by  which  we  can  work  them  on  the  piece-price  plan  would 
be  the  most  acceptable  and  practicable. 

"  In  making  contracts  on  the  piece-price  plan  I  would  recommend  that  certain 
articles  of  merchandise  be  manufactured,  such  as  boots  and  shoes,  clothing, 
school  desks  and  chairs,  wooden  ware,  and  brooms;  and  that  not  more  than  100 
men  be  worked  in  the  manufacture  of  any  one  class  of  goods. 

"  In  the  enactment  of  such  a  law  I  would  recommend  that  there  be  incorpo- 
rated a  section  whereby  the  contractors  who  manufacture  the  articles  mentioned 
should  be  compelled  to  furnish  our  State  institutions  and  political  divisions  of 
the  State,  and  such  State  institutions,  or  political  divisions,  be  compelled  to  pur- 
chase such  articles  of  said  contractors  at  a  price  to  be  determined  by  a  board 
appointed  by  the  governor  to  fix  prices  at  which  said  contractors  shall  be  paid 
for  the  manufactured  articles,  the  price  to  be  such  that  the  manufactured  goods 
sold  to  said  institutions  would  not  undersell  similar  goods  made  by  free  labor, 
permitting  said  contractors  to  dispose  of  the  balance  of  the  goods  manufactured 
in  the  market. 

"  Under  the  present  law  400  of  the  convicts  in  the  State  prison  may  be  employed 
under  contract  until  1904.  If  the  population  exceeds  800,  50  per  cent  of  those  in 
excess  of  that  number  may  be  likewise  employed.  The  State  has  leased  a  tract 
of  land  near  the  prison,  upon  which  to  employ,  through  the  summer  season,  any 
surplus  of  labor  there  may  be  remaining  after  supplying  the  above  number  and 
providing  for  the  regular  work  of  the  prison.  If  at  any  time  the  whole  number 
of  inmates  is  not  employed,  authority  has  been  given  to  utilize  them  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  goods  on  State  account.  "We  have  also  a  woman's  prison,  in  which 
the  women  are  largely  employed  about  the  institution,  but  do  some  little  outside 
work,  such  as  quilting  and  laundering. 

"No  work  is  provided  in  this  State  for  those  serving  jail  sentence,  save  in  some 
counties  there  is  a  stone  pile  or  wood  pile  upon  which  a  part  of  their  time  is 
expended. 

"  The  reformatory  has  all  of  its  labor  contracted  for  about  8  years  to  come. 
The  reform  school  for  boys  expends  all  of  its  labor  upon  its  farm  and  school 
industries.  The  reform  school  for  girls,  in  addition  to  caring  for  the  institution, 
does  some  laundry  work  for  outside  parties." 

According  to  the  biennial  report  of  the  Indiana  Reformatory  for  the  years  1897 
and  1898,  the  prisoners  in  the  institution  are  required  to  earn  their  own  living. 
A  man  on  entering  the  institution  is  given  his  first  outfit  and  first  meal;  after 
that  he  must  earn,  by  good  work,  sufficient  to  keep  himself  while  there  and  have 
a  certain  amount  to  his  credit  before  he  can  be  paroled. 

For  each  day's  perfect  performance  of  duty,  men  in  the  upper  grade  receive  a 
credit  of  55  cents  per  day;  in  the  middle  grade  50  cents  per  day;  in  the  lower 
grade  45  cents  per  day.  An  additional  credit  is  earned  for  all  work  done  in 
excess  of  the  fixed  task,  and  .a  deduction  is  made  for  all  tinnecessary  shortage. 
From  these  earnings  a  man  is  required  to  pay  for  what  he  receives  in  the  way  of 
board  and  clothing. 

After  18  months'  trial  of  this  system  and  carefully  comparing  it  with  other  sys- 
tems, the  officials  of  the  institution  are  convinced  that  it  is  a  strong  element  in 
the  successful  management  of  the  reformatory.  The  prisoners  in  this  institution 
are  worked  under  a  modified  form  of  the  contract  system,  but  at  the  expiration 
of  the  present  contract,  in  about  5  years,  trade  schools  are  to  be  established. 

The  board  of  State  charities,  in  their  ninth  annual  report,  1898,  make  the  follow- 
ing statement: 

"  The  most  serious  problem  which  has  confronted  the  management  of  the  State 
prisons  has  been  the  question  of  providing  labor  for  the  convicts.  The  new  laws 


PRISON   LABOR.  93 

against  contracting  prison  labor  made  no  provision  for  its  employment.  During 
the  past  year  there  have  been  380  men  under  contract.  In  addition  to  that,  every 
means  that  the  warden  could  devise  to  keep  the  men  in  employment  have  been 
used,  yet  there  have  been  some  "who  have  been  unoccupied.  At  this  season  of 
the  year,  and  through  the  months  immediately  succeeding  this,  there  is  but  little 
opportunity  to  furnish  employment  for  many  of  those  that  are  not  on  contract. 
The  spirit  of  the  prison  must  be  reformatory  if  it  is  successful.  There  is  nothing 
that  counts  toward  reformation  in  idle  convicts  locked  in  their  cells  their  entire 
time  devoted  to  thinking  of  self  and  to  the  cultivation  of  evil  habits.  The  strain 
of  these  conditions  is  great,  and  the  influence  is  not  toward  making  better  men." 

IOWA. 

The  following  quotation  is  taken  from  the  biennial  report  of  the  warden  of  the 
penitentiary  at  Fort  Madison  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1897: 

"We  have  employed  on  an  average  100  convicts  at  the  work  of  improvement 

foing  on  here  since  May,  1896.  These  men  will  have  work,  by  the  time  it  is 
nished,  about  350  days,  or  an  aggregate  of  35,000  days,  which,  computed  at  50 
cents  per  day  (the  price  of  contract  labor),  would  have  earned  §17.500.  And 
when  we  take  into  consideration  that  20  or  25  of  these  men  have  been  constantly 
employed  cutting  stone,  which  labor,  if  done  by  citizen  stone  cutters,  would  have 
cost  $3  or  $3.50  per  day  per  man,  an  average  of  7,000  days,  and  10  men  have  been 
employed  at  laying  stone,  for  which  we  have  paid  citizen  masons  employed  on 
the  work  $2.50  and  $3  per  day  who  did  no  better  work  than  the  convicts,  you  can 
form  some  estimate  of  the  saving  to  the  State  from  the  use  of  convicts. 

"I  have  at  all  times,  in  the  making  of  these  improvements,  utilized  convict 
labor  to  the  fullest  extent  possible.  In  the  construction  of  the  140  new  cells  all 
the  labor  was  done  by  convicts,  under  the  supervision  of  a  foreman  from  the  fac- 
tory, which  was  the  only  outside  labor  employed.  In  masonry  work  there  has 
been  a  citizen  foreman,  and  part  of  the  time  5  or  6  citizen  masons,  as  we  found 
only  2  or  3  stone  masons  among  the  convicts.  From  this  time  until  finishing 
there  will  be  none  but  convicts  employed,  except  the  foreman. 

"  I  find  by  comparison  that  the  earnings  of  the  men  on  contract  amounted  to 
$74,947.22,  a  decrease  of  $11,320.57,  as  compared  with  the  previous  biennial  report. 
One  reason  for  this  decrease  is  on  account  of  the  shoe  contract  going  out  March 
1,  1894,  and  also  by  modifications  of  the  contract  now  in  force  between  the  State 
and  the  Iowa  Farming  Tool  Company  and  the  Fort  Madison  Chair  Company, 
whereby  the  Farming  Tool  Company  reduced  the  number  of  men  working  on  their 
contract  from  155  full  pay  men  to  132,  and  half -pay  men,  or  lumpers,  from  11  to 
9,  a  reduction  of  25  in  the  aggregate  and  a  reduction  in  price  per  day  of  the  132 
men  remaining  from  50  cents  per  day  to  45  cents  per  day.  There  was  also  a 
modification  of  the  chair  company's  contract  to  run  from  June  1, 1896,  to  June  1, 
1898,  whereby  the  price  of  labor  was  reduced  from  50  to  40  cents  per  day  on  the 
full  number  of  men  employed,  the  number  of  men  was  reduced  from  130  to  120. 
These  reductions  were  made  upon  a  showing  by  the  contracting  firms  of  business 
depression  and  the  fact  of  manufacturing  articles  piling  up  on  their  hands,  the 
chair  company  making  a  sworn  statement  showing  conditions  corresponding  with 
their  claims,  and  the  tool  company  also  making  showing  to  substantiate  their 
claims.  Notwithstanding  these  drawbacks,  and  with  an  increase  of  65  men  in 
average  number  of  men  confined,  I  have  been  able  to  keep  up  the  general  support 
fund  and  turn  over  during  this  biennial  period  $11,000  as  surplus  earnings  to  the 
State  treasurer  and  have  now  on  hand  to  the  credit  of  that  fund  $7,265.51,  besides 
contractors'  notes  to  the  amount  of  $9,826.90  and  $3,000  due  from  contractors 
unsettled." 

Convicts  in  the  penitentiary  at  Anamosa  are  employed  in  quarrying  stone  to 
be  used  in  constructing  the  prison,  and  engaged  in  the  industries  connected  there- 
with, such  as  tailors,  making  prison  clothing  and  discharge  suits,  shoemakers, 
and  other  like  industries,  all  for  the  support  of  the  prisoners,  and  in  the  care  of 
the  institution. 

The  warden  of  the  Anamosa  penitentiary,  in  his  report  for  the  year  ending  June 
30, 1897,  says : 

"  The  question  of  convict  labor,  however  difficult  of  solution,  is  imperative  in 
its  supreme  importance.  To  remove  the  State  labor  out  of  the  reach  of  interested 
competitors  it  would  have  to  be  removed  out  of  this  world.  Every  act  performed 


94  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

by  a  prisoner  could  be  done  by  free  labor:  and  if  all  the  prisoners  of  the  State 
were  prohibited  from  doing  what  some  men  could  do.  and  would  like  to  do,  then 
a  sentence  to  '  hard  labor  in  the  penitentiary '  would  be  ridiculous  in  the  super 
lative  degree.  It  does  not  require  a  very  astute  niind  to  discover  that  the  State 
is  sandwiched  between  two  stubborn  difficulties.  It  can  not  perform  a  single  act 
without  coming  into  conflict  with  what  is  termed  '  free  labor. '  It  can  not  remain 
idle,  for  it  is  under  sentence  '  to  hard  labor  in  the  penitentiary.'  And  to  attempt 
to  escape  the  dilemma  by  farming  out  the  State  labor  at  a  mere  fraction  of  its  real 
value  only  aggravates  the  seriousness  of  the  situation.  A  glance  at  the  results  of 
this  method  can  not  fail  to  satisfy  any  clear-headed  man  that  the  policy  is  a 
dismal  failure.  It  fails  to  bring  the  State  any  just  recompense,  save  that  of  ridi- 
cule. It  fails  to  offer  any  incentive  to  the  convicts.  The  paltry  sum  paid  for 
their  services  is  an  insult  to  their  frayed  manhood.  It  fails  ingloriously  to  reach 
any  harmonious  results  in  the  world.  The  reason  is  plainly  told  by  the  complaints 
of  those  who  are  operating  plants  within  penitentiary  walls.  They  complain  of 
boycott  and  systematic  opposition  from  manufacturing  firms  that  are  paying 
higher  wages  for  the  same  class  of  service  performed.  The  result  could  not  be 
otherwise.  Where  is  the  solution  of  this  vexed  question?  Not  in  idleness,  for 
this  has  been  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting.  Not  in  ruinously  low 
prices  for  prison  labor;  that  only  aggravates  the  difficulty.  It  is  a  dismal  fail- 
ure. Let  the  State  demand  and  receive  for  its  labor  the  same  wages  that  are  paid 
for  the  same  class  of  labor  in  the  outside  world,  and  the  difficulty  disappears." 

Prisoners  in  the  county  jails  are  for  the  most  part  unemployed,  except  upon 
minor  duties  about  the  prison,  as  there  is  no  provision  in  the  statutes  for  a  guard 
to  work  the  convicts.  The  cities  of  Cedar  Rapids,  Sioux  City,  Davenport,  and 
Independence  furnish  a  gxiard  and  work  the  prisoners  on  the  streets. 

The  inmates  of  the  industrial  school  are  employed  in  the  domestic  duties  inci- 
dental to  the  institution;  also  in  making  and  mending  their  clothing  and  in 
studying. 

KANSAS. 

The  inmates  of  the  State  penitentiary  on  June  30,  1899,  were  employed  as  fol- 
lows: Under  the  contract  system,  in  the  manufacture  of  furniture.  76;  in  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes,  41;  runners  for  these  shops,  7.  Those  employed 
by  the  State  were  distributed  as  follows:  Two  hundred  and  sixty-one  in  mining 
coal  for  use  in  the  penitentiary  and  other  State  institutions;  30  in  quarrying  stone 
for  use  in  the  penitentiary  buildings  and  for  building  the  State  road;  15  on  build- 
ings being  erected  by  the  State;  60  in  the  kitchen,  bakery,  and  dining  room  of 
penitentiary;  45  in  the  engineering  department  for  light  and  power  at  the  peni- 
tentiary; 18  in  breaking  stone  for  road  use  and  cutting  stone  for  building;  52  in 
laundry  and  State  tailor  shop;  36  in  caring  for  cell  houses;  51  in  prison  yard  and 
general  miscellaneous  work  (this  includes  many  cripples  and  invalids);  14  on 
State  farm  raising  products  for  the  use  of  the  penitentiary;  13  in  and  around 
penitentiary  stables;  14  carpenters,  tinkers,  and  blacksmiths  in  State  shop;  15 
cooks,  nurses,  etc.,  in  hospital  and  insane  ward;  9  insane  prisoners;  97  clerks, 
runners,  roustabouts,  etc.;  25  at  brickyard  making  brick  for  use  of  State  insti- 
tutions; 39  on  State  road. 

In  the  large  cities  jail  prisoners  are  employed  generally  in  street  work.  The 
smaller  cities  and  county  jails,  as  a  rule,  furnish  no  employment  for  prisoners. 
The  State  reformatory  and  the  State  reform  school  furnish  mostly  farm  work  for 
prisoners. 

From  the  eleventh  biennial  report  for  the  State  penitentiary,  for  the  years  1897 
and  1898,  it  appears  that — 

"  During  the  year  ending  June  30,  1897,  there  were  employed  at  the  coal  mine, 
working  on  the  State-account  system  and  in  mining  coal  for  the  use  of  State 
institutions,  an  average  of  292£  convicts  per  day  working  309  days,  and  during 
the  year  ending  June  30,  1898,  there  were  an  average  of  313.08  convicts  per  day 
working  310  days.  The  convicts  were  also  engaged  in  farming  and  in  gardening 
and  macadamizing  public  roads." 


PRISON    LABOR.  95 

The  employment  of  the  prisoners  is  commented  upon  as  follows: 

"  Toward  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 1897,  and  during  the  early 
part  of  the  fiscal  year  just  closed,  it  seemed  impossible  to  provide  labor  for  the 
prisoners,  but  with  the  experience  with  one  summer  we  have  found  a  way  to  fully 
employ  this  labor,  so  that  during  the  last  7  months  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  June 
30,  1898,  we  sold  the  hitherto  unprecedentedly  small  amount  of  30,515  bushels  of 
market  coal.  In  this  connection,  I  feel  it  incumbent  upon  me  to  say  that  the  dis- 
position of  this  labor  is  a  question  upon  which  your  honorable  body  should  make 
explicit  report,  and  recommend  to  the  governor,  and  through  him  to  the  legislature 
of  the  State.  I  hold  the  employment  of  this  labor  by  any  party  or  parties  for 
private  gain  to  be  wholly  wrong.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  labor  of  the  wards 
of  the  State  should  result  in  profit  to  a  single  individual,  nor  is  there  any  reason 
why  this  labor  can  not  be  directed  into  channels  that  will  result  in  profit  to  the 
State  at  large,  nor  at  the  same  time  be  detrimental  in  the  way  of  competition  to 
a  single  free  worker,  organized  or  unorganized,  in  the  State.  To  sum  up,  this  labor 
should  be  used  in  preparing  the  material  for  the  erection  of  public  buildings,  in 
manufacturing  for  the  various  educational  and  charitable  institutions  such  articles 
as  can  be  readily  made  here  but  can  not  be  made  in  the  charitable  and  educational 
institutions." 

The  second  biennial  report  of  the  Kansas  State  Industrial  Reformatory,  1898, 
states  that — 

"  The  inmates  are  engaged  in  cooking,  washing  and  laundering,  tailoring  and 
shoemaking,  blacksmi thing  and  carpentering,  stonecutting  and  masonry,  all  of 
which  are  fairly  successful,  besides  farming  and  stock  raising.  I  would  suggest 
a  recommendation  by  the  board  to  the  legislature  for  improved  machinery  in  all 
these  departments  of  labor,  that  our  graduates  may  be  on  equal  footing  in  their 
trades  when  paroled. 

"So  far  our  shoe  department  is  confined  to  hand  work,  and,  while  answering 
institution  needs,  does  not  fit  a  tradesman  for  first-class  competition.  Our  laundry 
supplies  are  of  ancient  pattern  also,  and  our  kitchen  furniture  and  methods  very 
meager.  I  also  ask  that  the  board  consider  a  recommendation  as  to  putting  the 
inmates  of  this  institution  on  some  footing  of  earnings,  as  the  penitentiary  pittance 
at  least." 

KENTUCKY. 

Convicts  are  worked  under  the  lease  or  contract  systems  and  also  under  the 
public-account  system.  The  board  of  prison  commissioners,  in  their  annual  report 
for  the  year  1898,  state: 

' '  When  we  took  charge  of  the  penitentiaries  we  found  that  at  the  Frankfort 
penitentiary  400  convicts  were  leased  at  35  cents  per  man  for  each  working  day, 
and  650  convicts  were  being  worked  by  the  State  in  the  manufacture  of  chairs, 
the  output  of  which  was  sold  to  a  contractor  at  a  stipulated  price  per  dozen 
chairs. 

' '  Since  the  present  board  has  been  in  existence  they  have  succeeded  in  con- 
summating a  contract  for  the  leasing  of  the  labor  of  650  convicts  at  the  Frankfort 
penitentiary  at  40  cents  per  day  per  man,  which,  in  addition  to  400  previously 
leased  at  35  cents  per  day,  will  relieve  the  State  of  any  expense  on  account  of  the 
penitentiary.  There  are  now  on  hand  from  100  to  150  idle  convicts,  for  the  labor 
of  which  they  are  now  advertising  for  bids. 

'•At  the  Eddyville  penitentiary  there  are  about  500  convicts,  225  of  which  are 
now  leased  at  35  cents  per  day,  and  they  are  considering  bids  for  leasing  of  the 
remainder  of  able-bodied  men.  It  will  be  a  difficult  matter  to  place  this  peni- 
tentiary on  a  self -sustaining  basis  at  the  prevailing  prices  of  convict  labor,  for 
the  reason  that  nearly  all  the  expense  of  running  a  large  penitentiary,  viz,  sal- 
aries for  warden,  deputy  warden,  physician,  chaplain  and  guards,  light,  fuel, 
etc.,  have  to  be  paid,  but  all  able-bodied  convicts  are  leased. 

"  Labor  is  required  of  every  convict  in  the  penitentiaries  whose  physical  con- 
dition will  permit,  This  is  not  done  solely  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  rev- 
enues of  the  State.  It  is  universally  conceded  by  every  officer  in  charge  of  a 
penal  institution  in  the  civilized  world,  and  by  all  who  are  in  a  position  to  speak 
from  the  light  of  experience  and  close  observation,  that  employment  is  abso- 
lutely essential  as  a  preventive  of  discontent  and  restlessness  among  criminals, 
or,  for  that  matter,  any  other  class  of  individuals,  as  well  as  being  the  most 
potent  reformatory  factor. 


96  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

"  As  the  avowed  object  of  our  penitentiary  system  is  to  reform  as  well  as  punish 
the  violator  of  the  law,  it  will  be  the  aim  of  the  management  to,  if  possible, 
return  the  convict  to  society  a  better  man,  qualified  to  earn  his  living  in  a  legiti- 
mate and  honest  manner,  stimulated  in  courage  and  moral  purpose,  and  with  a 
self-respect  and  self-reliance  he  never  knew  before,  created  by  a  consciousness  of 
his  equality  with  his  fellows  in  the  battle  for  existence." 

The  warden  in  his  annual  report  for  1898  makes  the  following  recommendation : 
"As  you  are,  of  course,  aware,  I  took  charge  of  the  prison  as  warden  on  the 
1st  day  of  last  August.  I  found  the  shoe  and  broom  factories  running  with  profit 
to  the  State;  they  being  controlled  by  the  Mason  and  Foard  Company,  with  convict 
labor  leased  from  the  State.  I  found  the  chair  factory,  which  is  the  chief  indus- 
try of  the  penitentiary,  running  on  what  is  known  as  "  State's  account"  unsatis- 
factory and  unprofitable.  I  would,  therefore,  respectfully  recommend  and  urge 
that  the  contemplated  change  to  leased  labor  be  made  as  soon  as  possible,  as  the 
only  means  by  which  the  prison  can  be  put  upon  a  self-supporting  basis." 

A  State  reformatory  is  now  being  erected. 

Prisoners  in  county  jails  have,  as  a  rule,  no  employment  other  than  that  inci- 
dent to  keeping  the  buildings  and  surroundings  clean. 

LOUISIANA. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  are  employed  entirely  under  the  "  lease 
system."  The  warden,  in  his  annual  report  for  the  year  1898,  states  that — 

"  The  average  death  rate  for  the  twelve  years  preceding  the  appointment  of  a 
State  warden  is  10|  per  cent;  since  the  appointment  of  a  warden  the  death  rate 
has  been  a  little  over  6  per  cent,  and  this  would  have  been  still  more  reduced  had 
it  not  been  for  the  use  of  the  convicts  during  the  extreme  high  water  in  the  spring 
of  1897.  They  were  moved  about  in  boats  and  barges  to  meet  the  exigencies  of 
the  occasion  and  were  deprived,  to  some  extent,  of  the  care  and  comforts  of  camp 
life.  While  our  death  rate  appears  large  in  comparison  to  other  prisons,  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  work  done  by  our  prisoners  is  almost  exclusively  levee 
building,  which  is  situated  in  the  malarial  districts  of  the  State,  and  is  acknowl- 
edged to  be  unhealthy  work. 

"  While,  as  a  principle,  I  do  not  favor  the  lease  system,  I  do  not  think  that  the 
State,  under  like  conditions,  could  take  better  care  of  the  prisoners  than  do  the 
present  lessees. 

"  I  have  made  monthly  visits  to  the  different  camps,  and  while  a  few  cases  of 
brutality  were  reported  to  me,  in  every  case  it  was  the  act  of  some  subordinate, 
and  the  parties  so  offending  are  not  now  in  the  employment  of  the  lessee. 

"  It  has  been  my  duty,  on  several  occasions,  to  make  suggestions  as  to  clothing, 
sanitation,  etc.,  and  in  every  instance  my  suggestions  have  been  promptly  car- 
ried out." 

Prisoners  in  the  parish  jails,  as  a  rule,  have  no  employment,  except  in  New 
Orleans,  where  they  are  employed  in  cleaning  the  streets,  public  market,  and  parks. 

MAINE. 

Convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  employed  under  the  public-account  system  in 
the  manufacture  of  carriages,  harness,  furniture,  and  brooms. 

The  inspectors  of  the  prison  in  their  report  for  1898  state  that  they  are  fre- 
quently asked  why  the  prison  is  not  nearer  self-sustaining,  and  they  give  the 
following  reasons: 

"  First.  About  30  per  cent  of  the  prisoners  are  received  each  year  on  sentences 
as  a  rule  of  from  1  to  3  years  each;  by  provisions  of  the  revised  statutes  they  are 
allowed  7  days  off  from  every  month  for  promptly  obeying  prison  rules;  this 
leaves  the  actual  time  served  for  a  3-years'  sentence  2  years  5  months  8  days;  for  a 
2-years'  term,  1  year  7  months  15  days;  and  for  a  1-year  sentence,  9  months  23 
days.  They  come  with  no  trade  or  knowledge  of  the  industries  prosecuted  at 
this  place,  and  before  their  labor  is  of  any  value  to  the  State  they  are  discharged. 
Their  labor  is  therefore  of  very  little  actual  value  to  the  State. 

"  Second.  Every  prisoner  on  entering  is  furnished  a  new  prison  suit;  on  leaving 
a  new  citizen  suit.  The  expense  of  travel  from  the  place  of  sentence  for  prisoner 
and  officer  in  charge  is  borne  by  the  State,  and  the  State  pays  in  cash  to  each 


PRISON    LABOR.  97 

prisoner  not  less  than  $5  or  more  than  $10  to  pay  travel  home.    The  last  two  items 
alone  cost  the  State  for  the  year  just  closed  $1,502.40. 

"  Third.  The  unusual  expense  necessary  to  prison  discipline,  not  known  to  sim- 
ilar industries  outside  of  prison  walls." 

The  warden  in  his  report  for  the  same  year  states  that  a  large  per  cent  of  the 
convicts,  on  account  of  bodily  infirmities,  are  utterly  worthless  in  any  mechani- 
cal work,  and  in  order  to  keep  that  class  of  convicts  out  of  idleness  he  leased  a 
few  acres  of  land  near  the  prison  and  put  them  at  work,  and  the  result  of  their 
labor  for  the  year  is  as  follows:  Ten  thousand  five  hundred  ears  of  sweet  corn, 
300  bushels  of  potatoes,  200  bushels  of  turnips,  4,000  heads  of  cabbage,  5,070 
cucumbers,  85  bushels  of  shelled  corn,  50  bushels  dried  beans,  60  bushels  string 
beans,  and  18  tons  of  hay.. 

He  recommends  that  the  legislature  authorize  the  purchase  of  land  enough  for 
the  use  of  the  prison,  thereby  saving  the  amount  paid  out  for  rent. 

A  number  of  the  county  jails  are  provided  with  workshops  where  the  prisoners 
are  engaged  in  making  heels  and  inner  soles  for  boots  and  shoes,  which  are  sold  to 
shoe  manufacturers.  The  heels  are  made  from  scraps  of  leather  purchased  from 
shoe  manufacturers  as  waste  leather.  The  leather  is  cut  into  convenient  pieces 
by  use  of  dies,  which  makes  considerable  work.  The  convicts  also  make  what  is 
called  "  pan  cake,"  which  is  made  of  piece  of  leather  too  small  to  cut,  but  is  pasted 
together  in  sheets  about  a  foot  square,  pressed,  and  cut  with  a  machine  into  the 
shape  of  a  boot  heel. 

The  jails  in  a  few  of  the  counties  are  leased  with  the  labor  of  the  convicts.  In 
speaking  of  their  visit  to  the  York  County  jail,  which  is  leased  in  this  manner, 
the  inspectors  state: 

' '  The  fourth  quarter  inspection  recently  made  was  very  unsatisfactory.  It  was 
Saturday  afternoon  when  prisoners  are  excused  from  the  workshop.  There  were 
119  all  roaming  the  corridors  at  pleasure;  no  discipline  whatever;  the  corridors, 
cells,  and  bedding  in  a  very  filthy  state." 

The  inmates  of  the  State  reform  school  are  employed  at  farm  labor,  dairying, 
tailoring,  and  much  of  the  time  in  building,  making  roads,  grading  grounds,  etc., 
for  the  institution.  Some  are  also  employed  in  cane-seating  chairs  on  the  piece- 
price  plan. 

The  farm  is  regarded  as  an  important  factor  in  the  reformation  of  the  inmates. 
Their  time  is  divided  between  manual  labor  and  school  work. 

MARYLAND. 

According  to  the  annual  report  of  the  directors  and  warden  of  the  State  peniten- 
tiary for  the  year  1898,  the  convicts  were  constantly  employed  under  the  contract 
system  and  in  other  ways,  and  performed  their  duties  in  a  way  most  satisfactory, 
the  nonproductive  prisoners  being  only  8|  per  cent  of  the  entire  number. 

There  were  775  prisoners  employed  under  contracts;  of  this  number  79  were 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  furniture  and  plumbers'  marble;  163  in  the  manu- 
facture of  hollow  ware  and  foundry  work;  494  men  and  39  women  in  the  manu- 
facture of  boots  and  shoes.  In  addition  to  these  71  were  engaged  in  manufactur- 
ing supplies  for  the  institution  and  in  necessary  work  connected  with  the  same. 

In  1897  the  net  earnings  amounted  to  $27,871.84,  a  gain  of  $10,508.41  over  1896. 
In  1898  the  net  earnings  amounted  to  the  sum  of  $29,180.71.  The  per  capita  cost 
for  the  support  of  the  prisoners  for  the  year  was  $100.08f ,  against  $97.38f  for  the 
previous  year. 

Inmates  at  the  house  of  refuge  at  Baltimore  are  engaged  in  the  general  work 
incident  to  the  care  of  the  insti  tution  and  in  manufacturing  supplies  for  the  same 
A  number  of  them,  averaging  about  70,  are  employed  under  the  contract  system. 

There  is  no  regular  system  for  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  the  county  jails, 
and  as  a  result  most  of  them  are  kept  in  idleness. 
250A — VOL  in 7 


98  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  employment  of  convicts  in  the  State  prison,  reformatories,  jails,  and  houses 
of  correction  is  now  restricted,  by  the  law  of  1897,  to  the  public-account  system, 
except  upon  the  industries  of  cane  seating  and  making  umbrellas,  which  may  be 
conducted  under  the  piece-price  system. 

When  prisoners  are  employed  on  public  account,  the  principal  officer  of  the 
prison  purchases  the  raw  material,  makes  it  into  commodities,  and  sells  them  in 
the  market,  the  same  as  an  outside  manufacturer;  when  employed  on  piece-price 
system  the  materials  are  furnished  to  the  prison  by  an  outside  manufacturer,  who 
pays  for  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  by  the  piece,  instead  of  by  the  day,  as  under 
the  contract  system  prior  to  1887.  In  all  cases  the  tools  and  machinery  are  sup- 
plied by  the  prison.  Sometimes  the  instructors  are  also  paid  by  the  prison,  and 
sometimes  by  the  manufacturer;  but,  however  they  are  paid,  they  must  in  all 
cases  be  appointed  by  the  principal  officer,  with  the  approval  of  the  general 
superintendent  of  prisons. 

It  is  provided  in  the  laws  relating  to  the  labor  of  prisoners  that  all  of  the 
industries,  both  in  the  State  and  county  institutions,  shall  be  under  the  supervi- 
sion of  the  general  superintendent  of  prisons,  and  the  following  information  is 
taken  from  his  report  for  1898: 

"  The  different  kinds  of  work  carried  on  at  the  State  prison  during  the  year  are 
described  in  the  following  paragraphs: 

"A  small  number  of  prisoners  are  employed  in  making  paper  boxes,  part  of 
which  are  used  in  the  State  prison  and  part  in  the  Massachusetts  reformatory. 
The  work  is  all  done  by  hand  and  furnishes  useful  occupation. 

"  Thirty-five  prisoners  are  employed  at  brush  making.  The  goods  produced 
consist  of  dustbrushes,  windowbrushes.  etc.  These  are  sold,  by  the  superintendent 
of  that  industry,  under  the  direction  of  the  warden. 

"Another  industry  carried  on  by  hand  is  harness  making,  in  which  some  of  the 
prisoners  acquire  a  good  degree  of  skill.  Harness  of  various  kinds  and  qualities 
is  produced,  and  as  the  work  is  well  done,  the  product  commands  good  prices. 

"An  agreement  was  made  in  1893  for  a  term  of  5  years  for  the  employment  of 
prisoners  in  the  State  prison  in  making  clothing  on  the  piece-price  system.  The 
principal  articles  of  manufacture  at  first  consisted  of  colored  shirts,  but  toward 
the  close  of  the  term  other  articles  were  substituted.  Upon  the  expiration  of  the 
agreement  the  business  was  discontinued. 

"  Prior  to  the  1st  day  of  January  about  300  prisoners  were  employed  in  making 
boots  and  shoes,  but  on  that  date  the  number  was  reduced  to  200.  The  goods 
made  here,  consisting  of  men's  and  boys'  shoes,  are  sold  by  an  agent,  under  the 
direction  of  the  warden. 

"  Various  styles  and  grades  of  trunks  and  suit  cases  are  made.  This  is  a  small 
industry  and  furnishes  very  little  occupation.  It  can  not  be  enlarged,  as  the  stat- 
utes restrict  the  work  to  a  few  prisoners. 

"  Early  in  the  year  an  experiment  was  made  in  a  small  way  with  chair  work 
for  the  prisoners  confined  in  the  solitary  prison.  It  was  found,  however,  after  a 
short  trial  that  the  income  from  the  labor  of  these  prisoners  would  not  pay  even 
the  small  salary  of  an  instructor,  and  no  permanent  arrangement  was  entered 
upon. 

"  In  addition  to  the  industries  carried  on  for  purposes  of  revenue  as  well  as 
occupation,  some  hand  work  has  been  done  in  the  State  prison  in  the  way  of  sup- 
plying articles  for  the  institution. 

•'At  the  reformatory  prison  for  women  the  inmates  are  engaged  in  making  cur- 
tains and  other  small  articles  by  the  piece:  also  in  manufacturing  shirts  and  laun- 
dry work.  In  addition  to  the  mechanical  industries  some  of  the  inmates  are  given 
work  in  connection  with  the  farm,  on  the  land  as  well  as  in  the  dairy,  and  looking 
after  the  poultry. 

"At  the  State  reformatory  cane  seating  is  done  on  the  piece-price  system  by  a 
small  number  of  inmates.  This  work  is  used  mainly  to  furnish  occupation  for 
the  prisoners  in  the  third  grade. 

"  A  small  number  of  prisoners  are  engaged  in  printing.  Some  cash  income  is 
derived  from  this  business,  but  the  greatest  benefit  received  from  it  is  the  useful 
instruction  it  affords. 


PRISON    LABOR.  99 

"  Before  the  new  law  took  effect  more  than  300  prisoners  were  engaged  in  mak- 
ing shoes.  On  January  1,  however,  the  number  was  reduced;  and  since  that  time 
not  more  than  175  have  been  in  the  shoe  shop  at  once.  Owing  to  the  change  from 
piece  price  to  public  account,  there  was  a  great  interruption  to  this  business,  and 
at  one  time  only  7  prisoners  were  at  work.  A  good  quantity  of  men's  and  boys' 
shoes  are  made.  They  are  sold  in  the  open  market  by  an  agent  appointed  by  the 
superintendent . 

"  The  making  of  chairs  has  been  carried  on  at  the  reformatory  for  a  number  of 
years;  and  it  was  therefore  considered  advisable  to  continue  this  industry,  at  least 
until  other  work  could  be  provided.  Wood  chairs  of  various  kinds  are  made  and 
sold  under  the  direction  of  the  superintendent. 

"  In  addition  to  the  work  already  described,  there  has  been  started  at  the 
reformatory  the  largest  industry  yet  established  under  the  statute  of  1898,  for  the 
employment  of  prisoners  in  making  goods  for  the  use  of  public  institutions. 

"  Other  useful  occupations  for  the  inmates  are  provided  by  the  trade  schools, 
which  have  been  maintained  through  the  year  in  the  same  manner  as  heretofore. 
A  great  deal  of  work  has  also  been  done  in  clearing  and  grading  land  recently 
acquired  by  the  institution,  and  some  crops  have  been  cultivated. 

'•  At  the  State  farm  there  was  on  the  average  160  convicts  employed  in  cane- 
seating  chairs,  and  the  net  earnings  amounted  to  $23.42  for  each  prisoner 
employed.  Aside  from  the  cane  seating,  the  principal  occupation  is  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  large  tract  of  land. 

"By  chapter  412  of  the  acts  of  1897,  which  became  operative  on  the  1st  of  Janu- 
ary, 1898,  all  piecework,  except  cane-seating  chairs  and  making  umbrellas,  is 
forbidden  in  the  prison.  In  compliance  with  the  terms  of  that  act,  notice  was 
given  late  in  1897,  in  all  but  two  cases,  that  the  piece-price  agreements  would  be 
terminated  on  the  1st  of  January  following.  The  two  exceptions  were  the  manu- 
facture of  clothing  at  the  State  prison  under  an  agreement  made  in  1893,  for  a 
term  of  5  years,  and  containing  no  provision  for  its  termination  or  notice,  and  the 
manufacture  of  shoes  at  the  Lawrence  House  of  Correction  on  a  similar  agree- 
ment. These  agreements  have  now  expired,  and  at  the  date  of  this  report  the 
only  piece-price  work  done  at  any  of  the  prisons  is  upon  the  two  industries 
exempted  by  the  statute  of  1897. 

"  The  establishment  of  the  different  kinds  of  work  needed  to  produce  goods  for 
the  use  of  institutions  by  labor  of  prisoners  has  progressed  as  rapidly  as  circum- 
stances will  allow.  It  has  been  necessary  to  exercise  great  care  in  the  selection  of 
the  places  where  articles  are  to  be  made,  as  it  is  essential  to  the  success  of  the 
experiment  that  they  shall  be  entirely  acceptable  to  the  officers  required  under 
the  law  to  purchase  them.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  general  superintendent  to  make 
this  new  work  serve  as  far  as  possible  the  interests  of  the  prisons  producing  the 
goods,  and  it  is  equally  his  purpose  to  regard  the  interests  of  the  institutions  buy- 
ing them.  Experiments  requiring  the  expenditure  of  money  are  not  practicable 
to  any  extent,  because  under  a  statute  of  last  year  the  prison  industries  must  be 
maintained  by  their  own  receipts.  It  will  therefore  be  understood  that  this  work 
can  not  be  undertaken  without  careful  scrutiny  of  the  prison  population  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  whether  it  will  furnish  the  required  skill  or  adaptability. 

"  Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  law  a  shop  was  opened  at  the  State  prison  for 
the  manufacture  of  shoes  by  hand  labor  for  institution  use.  These  shoes  are  not 
as  nicely  finished  as  those  produced  by  machinery,  but  they  are  well  made  and 
have  been  generally  satisfactory  to  the  officers  using  them.  It  is  the  intention  to 
put  into  them  as  good  material  as  is  used  in  shoes  selling  for  the  same  price  else- 
where, and  it  is  hoped  that  the  hand  labor  may  add  to  their  durability,  and  thus 
enhance  their  values  to  the  institutions. 

"  The  State  prison  has  also  supplied  some  brushes  to  other  places,  For  the  con- 
venience of  the  officers,  the  general  superintendent  has  designated  the  State  prison 
to  furnish  one  kind  of  brushes  and  the  East  Cambridge  house  of  correction  another 
kind. 

"The  largest  industry  yet  established  under  the  statute  of  1898  is  the  cloth 
making  at  the  Massachusetts  reformatory.  Woolen  cloth,  in  all  respects  good 
enough  for  institution  use,  is  now  produced  there,  and  considerable  quantities  of 
it  have  already  been  sold.  As  far  as  known  it  has  been  satisfactory.  All  the 
weaving  is  done  on  hand  looms,  and  many  other  processes  are  performed  without 
the  aid  of  machinery. 

"A  shop  for  the  manufacture  of  clothing  was  established  at  the  Massachusetts 
reformatory.  So  many  orders  have  been  received  for  clothing  that  another  shop 
will  be  started  at  the  State  prison.  All  the  clothing  in  both  places  will  be  made 
of  cloth  produced  at  the  reformatory. 

"As  soon  as  the  most  advantageous  place  to  establish  a  general  shop  can  be 
selected  a  number  of  small  articles  will  be  made  for  the  use  of  institutions.  As 
already  noticed,  the  industries  must  be  self-supporting,  and  it  is  necessary  to 


100  UNITED    STATES   INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

proceed  with  great  caution  in  order  to  avoid  a  financial  loss.  The  expense  of 
superintendence  and  instruction  must  bear  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  cost  of 
goods  that  only  an  insignificant  return  will  ever  be  likely  to  come  from  the  labor 
of  prisoners  employed  in  this  way. 

"It  is  proposed  to  manufacture  hosiery  for  the  use  of  institutions  as  soon  as  the 
needed  capital  has  been  accumulated  in  any  prison  having  a  population  capable 
of  performing  this  work,  which  will  be  done  by  hand  power. 

"A  few  blankets  have  already  been  made  at  the  Massachusetts  reformatory. 
and  it  is  proposed  to  put  this  industry  on  such  a  basis  that  all  the  institutions  can 
be  supplied  with  blankets  produced  on  hand  looms. 

"In  September  a  conference  was  held  with  all  the  principal  officers  of  the  public 
institutions  of  the  State  and  counties,  and  samples  of  the  goods  in  general  use 
were  exhibited  for  the  purpose  of  inspection  and  comparison.  From  the  testimony 
at  the  conference  and  the  samples  submitted,  information  has  been  gained  as  to 
what  has  been  mainly  purchased  by  the  officers  and  what  is  most  likely  to  be 
acceptable  to  them. 

"  The  first  list  of  articles  published  in  accordance  with  the  law  was  issued  by 
the  general  superintendent  in  September,  and  it  included  boots,  shoes,  and 
slippers,  brooms,  brushes,  cabinetwork,  clothing,  furniture,  harness,  mats,  and 
rugs,  shirts,  tinware,  and  woolen  cloth.  All  the  articles  named  in  this  list  are 
now  made  in  the  prisons,  as  far  as  possible,  by  hand  power.  The  list  of  articles 
and  materials  will  be  enlarged  from  time  to  time  as  the  industries  are  extended. 

"  There  has  never  been  anything  in  the  statute  to  prevent  one  institution  from 
buying  goods  of  another;  and,  in  fact,  the  law  of  1887  seems  yet  to  require  that 
prison-made  goods  shall  be  so  used.  Nevertheless,  in  the  entire  11  years  of  the 
operations  under  that  law  no  appreciable  amount  of  work  has  been  obtained  in 
this  way.  That  such  employment  can  be  provided  by  proper  direction  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  in  the  first  month  under  the  new  law,  when  only  a  few  industries 
were  established,  several  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods  were  sold  to  the 
nstitutions." 

The  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  and  houses  of  correction,  except  where  there 
are  only  a  few  or  where  they  are  temporarily  retained  awaiting  trial,  are  as  a  rule 
engaged  in  some  mechanical  or  manufacturing  industry  under  the  piece-price  or 
public-account  systems. 

MICHIGAN. 

A  sufficient  number  of  the  convicts  are  employed  doing  the  work  of  the  prisons. 
Those  not  required  for  this  purpose  work  at  productive  labor  of  various  kinds, 
such  as  making  agricultural  implements,  furniture,  clothing,  etc.  Some  of  these 
industries  are  carried  on  upon  State  account;  others  are  carried  on  by  contractors 
who  hire  the  convicts  of  the  State.  The  contract  system  and  the  State-account 
system  exists  in  all  the  prisons,  and  in  all  of  them  the  prisoners  are  employed  on 
State  account  or  in  working  for  contractors,  as  found  best  for  the  State. 

In  the  State  prison  at  Jackson  300  convicts  are  employed  in  making  and  laun- 
dering shirts;  175  in  making  agricultural  tools;  25  in  woodwork  for  wagons;  30 
in  monumental  granite  work;  40  in  making  brooms,  and  20  in  making  boxes  and 
packing  cases. 

In  the  house  of  correction  at  Marquette  100  convicts  are  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  cigars  under  the  piece-price  system,  the  contractors  furnish  the  mate- 
rials, and  the  cigars  are  made  at  a  stated  price  per  1,000;  40  convicts  are  employed 
in  the  manufacture  of  overalls,  jumpers,  jean  pants,  and  duck  coats  under  a  con- 
tract for  a  fixed  price  per  day  per  convict,  and  60  convicts  are  employed  on  the 
prison  farm,  in  engine  room  and  kitchen  and  at  other  work  on  State  account. 

The  State-account  system  predominates  in  the  employment  of  convicts  at  the 
house  of  correction  at  Detroit. 

In  the  house  of  correction  at  Ionia  244  convicts  are  employed  under  contract  in 
making  and  laundering  shirts,  and  60  in  knitting  cotton  socks,  while  148  are 
employed  in  miscellaneous  prison  work. 

The  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  are  kept  in  idleness,  except  in  a  few  instances 
they  are  employed  in  cleaning  the  premises  or  possibly  in  breaking  stone  in  the 
jail  yard. 


PRISON    LABOR.  101 

The  inmates  of  the  State  reformatories  are  employed  under  the  same  systems 
that  are  in  use  at  the  prisons.  In  the  institutions  for  juvenile  offenders  the  inmates 
are  taught  industries,  and  are  employed,  to  some  extent,  in  producing  articles  for 
use  in  the  institutions,  and  sometimes  for  sale. 

The  industrial  school  at  Lansing  has  a  farm  of  260  acres,  on  which  the  boys  are 
taught  farming,  and  raise  the  vegetables  required  for  the  institution.  In  the  car- 
penter shop  75  are  taught  woodwork,  and  do  all  needed  repairing.  In  the  tailor- 
ing and  shoe  departments  all  the  clothes  and  shoes  required  are  made  and  repaired. 
There  is  also  a  printing  shop  and  other  departments  in  which  trades  are  taught. 

The  board  of  control  of  the  prisons  of  the  State,  in  their  annual  report  for  1898, 
give  the  following  information  concerning  the  prison  systems: 

"Formerly  the  law  required  all  convicts  to  be  let  to  contractors  if  possible,  and 
provided  that  those  only  be  employed  on  State  account  who  could  not  be  let  to 
contractors.  This  is  changed  now.  Prisoners  can  be  and  are  worked  on  contracts 
or  on  State  account,  as  may  appear  the  'most  beneficial  to  the  State.'  They  are 
not  let  to  contractors  if,  in  any  case,  they  may  be  employed  on  State  account  to 
better  advantage.  No  prejudice  exists  in  the  prison  boards  in  favor  of  one  system 
of  work  as  against  the  other.  Indeed  all  the  prisons  carry  on  industries  on  State 
account,  as  well  as  on  contracts,  and  all  will  increase  State  account  work  over  the 
contract  system  whenever  this  mode  will  be  more  beneficial  to  the  State  than  the 
contract  system. 

"As  to  tb.3  convict,  he  is  treated  the  same,  and  has  the  same  opportunities  when 
he  works  on  contract  as  when  he  works  on  State  account.  He  remains  in  charge 
of  the  same  prison  officers  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other.  He  is  never  in  this 
State  put  under  the  control  of  contractors. 

' '  In  the  Michigan  State  Prison  the  cost  of  maintenance  above  earnings  was  only 
$10,229.87  a  year  for  the  two  years  ending  June  30,  1898.  For  the  calendar  year 
1897  the  deficiency  was  only  $998.69.  During  the  two  years  $20.000  only  were 
drawn  from  the  State  treasury  for  maintenance  of  the  State  prison  at  Jackson, 
and  for  the  calendar  year  1897  only  $4,000,  of  which  all  but  $998.69  remained 
unexpended  January  1, 1898." 

Before  closing  this  report  I  feel  that  I  should  say  a  word  regarding  labor. 
This  question  has  been  the  subject  of  much  discussion  during  late  years,  and 
seems  to  be  far  from  settlement.  Since  1888,  when  I  gave  utterance  to  my  views 
on  this  most  important  and  necessary  division  of  prison  government,  in  my  annual 
report  for  the  year,  I  have  had  no  reason  to  change  them  in  any  particular;  and 
therefore  at  this  time  I  will  quote  you  what  I  then  said: 

"In  selecting  and  planting  prison  industries,  find  out  and  adopt  the  intellectual 
and  the  mechanical — the  finer  and  the  coarser  mechanical  work.  Select  the  diffi- 
cult and  the  remunerative,  anything  that  will  interest,  a  waken,  and  enlarge  the 
mind  and  the  skill  of  the  man,  and  in  which  he  will  see  a  fair  remuneration  for 
free,  honest  work.  The  prisoner  should  never  be  employed  on  what  is  not  salable 
or  remunerative.  Employ  the  prisoner  upon  the  moral,  the  esthetic  and  the  ele- 
vating. Give  him  instruction  in  the  purer  and  best  paying  arts;  when  practicable 
lead  him  into  the  most  abstruse  and  absorbing  pursuits  of  science  and  also  assign 
him  work  in  the  hardest  drudgeries  of  manual  toil.  But  as  success  in  prison 
management  is  desired,  never  employ  a  man  in  labor  that  is  not  intellectual,  or  is 
not  a  paying  industry.  That  which  is  to  be  sought  in  these  things  as  employed 
in  prisons  is  the  union  of  public  and  individual  interest,  variety  of  labor,  versa- 
tility of  thought,  and  the  better  application  of  taste  and  of  skill,  and  an  improved 
public  spirit  constantly  arising,  and  an  intelligent  trend  of  social  life  maintained 
in  the  prisoners,  a  life  which  shall  lead  to  a  disdain  of  meanness  and  wrong.  Let 
these  means  and  others  be  employed  until  a  generous  and  dignified  public  spirit 
shall  arise  and  be  cherished  and  maintained.  This  procedure  may  be  slow  and 
costly,  but  it  is  the  only  antidote  for  crime," 

MINNESOTA. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  are  employed  under  the  State  account 
and  piece-price  systems.  The  manufacture  of  rope  and  cordage,  and  of  high 
school  scientific  apparatus,  is  carried  on  under  the  State  account  system,  and  about 
half  of  the  prisoners  are  engaged  under  the  piece-price  system  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  boots  and  skoes. 


102  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

The  board  of  managers  and  warden  of  the  State  prison,  in  their  biennial  report 
for  the  year  ending  July  31,  1898,  give  the  following  information  concerning  the 
industrial  operations  of  the  institution : 

"  There  have  been  several  important  changes  made  in  the  industrial  manage- 
ment of  the  institution  during  the  past  two  years,  the  most  important  of  which 
is  the  introduction  of  the  '  piece-price  system '  as  provided  by  law  (chapter  154, 
general  laws  of  1895) ,  the  introduction  of  a  new  industry  on  State  account  for 
the  manufacturing  of  high  school  scientific  apparatus,  and  the  enlargement  of 
the  twine  factory." 

' '  Under  the  '  piece-price  system '  we  entered  into  a  contract  with  the  Union  Shoe 
and  Leather  Company  to  furnish  all  materials  for  the  manufacture  of  boots  and 
shoes ;  to  keep  steadily  employed  for  a  period  of  8  years  not  less  than  200  prison- 
ers, and  to  take  the  finished  product  at  so  much  per  piece,  the  work  done  to  be 
classified  according  to  its  quality  and  nature.  Under  this  system  the  manage- 
ment is  enabled  to  exercise  better  control  over  the  prisoners.  It  affords  a  larger 
discretion  in  assigning  prisoners  to  work  best  adapted  for  them,  and  to  make 
such  changes,  from  time  to  time,  from  one  kind  of  work  to  another  as  the  best 
interests  of  health  and  temperament  may  dictate.  From  every  point  of  view  we 
find  the  '  piece-price  system '  an  improvement  over  the  old  system  of  contract 
labor.  We  also  find  that  it  has  yielded  equal,  if  not  better,  results  to  the  State 
financially." 

' '  The  manufacture  of  high-school  scientific  apparatus  was  commenced  under 
State  account  nearly  two  years  ago,  and  is  gradually  growing,  under  very  satis- 
factory conditions.  This  has  proved  a  very  interesting  and  important  industry, 
in  that  it  provides  skilled  mechanical  labor  of  a  high  order  for  our  prisoners,  yet 
does  not  compete  or  interfere  in  any  way  with  any  industry  of  like  character  in 
the  State.  It  has  also  proved  a  great  benefit  to  the  schools  of  the  State  finan- 
cially, as  we  have  been  able  to  manufacture  and  sell  them  the  apparatus  at  an 
average  cost  of  at  least  one-third  less  than  they  have  been  obliged  to  pay  to  East- 
ern manufacturers.  At  the  same  time  it  has  been  a  success  for  the  State  finan- 
cially, and  has  yielded  good,  substantial  returns  from  the  start.  We  are  much  in 
favor  of  a  gradual  extension  of  this  industry. 

"We  regret  to  say  that  the  twine  factory  did  not  give  the  protection  to  the  con- 
sumers this  season  that  it  should  and  naturally  would  have  given  under  more 
favorable  conditions,  or  the  protection  that  the  management  fully  intended  would 
be  provided  under  the  plans  which  have  been  in  force  for  the  sale  of  the  prison 
twine  during  the  past  five  years. 

"  Early  in  the  life  of  the  twine  plant  it  was  found  impossible  to  dispose  of  the 
product  direct  to  the  farmers.  The  first  year,  with  a  product  of  only  300,000 
pounds,  over  one-half  was  carried  over.  Conditions  were  but  little  better  the 
second  year,  though  the  management  made  every  possible  effort  to  get  the 
fanners  to  buy  direct  from  the  prison.  At  this  period  it  became  plainly  apparent 
to  the  management  that  if  the  twine  plant  was  to  live,  maintain  a  healthy  growth, 
and  fulfill  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  its  creators,  as  well  as  to  fulfill  the  spirit 
of  the  law  creating  it,  some  arrangement  would  have  to  be  made  whereby  the 
sale  of  each  year's  product  could  be  made  certain.  Sound  business  judgment 
dictated  it,  and  this  purpose  was  accomplished  by  getting  the  country  dealers  and 
farmers'  clubs  to  handle  such  portion  of  the  output  each  year  as  could  not  be  sold 
to  the  consumers.  Under  this  arrangement  it  was  disposed  of  in  carload  lots  at 
one-half  cent  a  pound  less  as  an  inducement  to  dealers  and  farmers'  clubs  to 
handle  it.  The  prison  twine  was  soon  conceded  to  be  equal  to  the  best  in  quality 
and  was  popular,  but  the  farmer  who  is  accustomed  to  buy  from  a  dealer  in  his 
own  town  preferred  to  get  it  when  he  wanted  it  and  with  no  trouble  to  himself, 
and  generally  on  60  or  90  days'  time,  rather  than  send  his  order  and  cash  direct  to 
the  prison,  and  yet  the  fact  that  he  could  always  send  his  order  direct  and  get  the 
twine  at  a  price  only  one-half  cent  higher  than  the  dealer  or  farmers'  club  paid 
for  the  same  twine  in  carload  lots  was  a  complete  and  effectual  check  against 
overcharge  on  their  part.  Up  to  the  present  year  the  plan  has  worked  well  and 
gave  general  satisfaction  to  the  farmers.  In  fact,  this  method  of  handling  it 
created  such  a  lively  competition  that  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  farmers  got 
the  prison  twine  on  time  from  their  local  dealers  fully  as  cheaply  as  they  could 
get  it  by  sending  their  orders  with  cash  direct  to  the  prison.  Our  output  this 
season  was  about  5,000,000  pounds.  The  requirement  of  the  whole  State  was 
about  17,000,000  pounds,  and  800 ,000  pounds  were  reserved  for  direct  orders  from 
the  fanners — a  much  larger  reserve  than  usual,  and  more  than  we  have  ever  been 
able  to  sell  direct  any  preceding  season. 

"All  of  our  industries  have  become  so  productive  of  good  financial  results  that 
we  are  pleased  to  be  able  to  show  that  the  institution  has  become  much  more  than 


PRISON   LABOR.  103 

self-sustaining  during  the  past  two  years.  Our  earnings  during  the  past  two 
years  have  been  §244,768.48,  and  our  total  expenditures  $201,121.08,  leaving  a  net 
gain  of  $43,647.40.  The  fiancial  showing  of  the  institution  is  very  gratifying  to 
the  management,  and  from  the  best  information  we  have  been  able  to  gather  we 
believe  that  there  is  not  another  institution  of  this  character  in  the  United  States 
making  so  favorable  a  showing  financially." 

No  work  is  provided  for  the  inmates  of  the  county  jails.  The  inmates  of  the 
State  reformatory  are  employed  in  different  industries,  as  shown  by  the  following 
quotations  from  the  biennial  report  of  the  board  of  managers  for  the  two  years 
ending  July  31,  1895: 

"Our  population  has  been  employed  in  the  different  trades  about  as  follows: 

"  Quarrying  and  dressing  granite,  40;  the  various  building  trades,  30;  black- 
smithing,  8;  cooks,  waiters,  butchers,  and  domestics,  16;  engineers,  firemen,  plumb- 
ers, steam  fitters,  and  tinners,  10;  greenhouse,  gardens,  farm,  stock,  and  teamsters, 
40;  tailoring,  etc.,  5;  bakery,  2;  laundry,  2;  shoemaking,  3;  printing  office  and  book- 
binding, 1 ;  creamery,  etc. ,  1 ;  clerks  in  office,  store,  and  library,  3. 

"Except  what  we  have  been  able  to  sell,  the  product  of  our  granite  industry  is 
now  incorporated  in  our  new  buildings. 

"  Our  next  largest  industry  is  farming  and  gardening.  During  the  past  2  years 
the  last  of  our  700-acre  farm  has  been  grubbed  and  broken,  the  old  land  has  been 
well  dressed,  and  all  is  now  in  a  good  state  of  cultivation. 

"  We  this  year  raised  3,500  bushels  of  corn,  1,800  of  oats,  and  have  350  tons  of 
good  hay.  We  have  milked  an  average  of  50  cows — more  than  supplying  the 
institution  with  milk  and  butter.  We  are  raising  60  calves,  besides  those  used 
for  veal,  and  have  now  175  head  of  cattle. 

"We  have  raised  ample  fresh  pork,  and  have  hams,  bacon,  and  lard  for  the 
coming  year.  We  have  in  store  fresh  vegetables  of  every  kind  for  the  year,  and 
much  in  roots  for  stock,  and  also  have  a  large  quantity  of  preserved  fruit,  vege- 
tables, and  pickles. 

"I  am  still  of  the  same  opinion  expressed  in  my  report  2  years  ago,  viz:  'As 
most  of  our  inmates  come  to  us  without  trades,  and  are  here  on  an  average  of 
only  about  a  year,  and  nearly  all  do  farm  work  while  on  parole,  I  question 
whether  we  can  do  a  better  thing  for  them,  or  for  the  State,  than  to  utilize  our 
700-acre  farm  to  train  many  of  them  in  farm,  garden,  small  fruit,  stock,  dairy, 
chicken  raising,  and  other  similar  work.  If,  by  making  it  as  attractive  as  pos- 
sible, we  can  interest  a  few  of  these  boys  in  such  work,  so  as  to  cultivate  a  liking 
for  country  life,  will  it  not  pay?' 

"One-half  the  niTmber,  and  probably  more  in  value,  of  our  inmate  labor  is 
constantly  employed  in  making  permanent  improvements  for  the  State,  which 
are  proportionally  as  much  assets  to  the  State  as  the  new  capitol  at  St.  Paul. 

"  I  feel  that  the  education  of  our  inmates,  to  vigorous,  useful,  cooperative 
labor,  resulting  in  stately  buildings,  in  a  well-improved,  attractive  farm  and 
stock,  affording  the  necessaries  and  many  of  the  comforts  of  life,  in  the  making 
of  clothing  and  everything  for  protecting  the  body,  and  with  all  the  employ- 
ments and  economies  of  family  and  community  life  in  daily  operation  before 
their  eyes,  and  in  which  each  one  of  them  is  a  useful  worker,  is  a  practical 
education  never  to  be  forgotten  by  them." 

MISSISSIPPI. 

Convicts  at  the  penitentiary  are  worked  under  the  lease  or  contract  system,  and 
are  engaged  principally  in  agricultural  pursuits. 

The  following  quotations  from  the  biennial  report  of  the  board  of  control  of 
the  State  penitentiary  for  the  years  1896  and  1897  show  the  methods  under  which 
the  convicts  are  employed: 

•'  Inasmuch  as  it  is  now  demonstrated  that  the  State  can,  without  any  danger 
of  financial  loss,  employ  its  convicts  in  agricultural  labor  upon  lands  owned  by 
the  State,  the  board  respectfully  submits  and  earnestly  recommends  for  considera- 
tion the  proposition  that  the  State  should  not  delay  any  longer  the  purchase  of 
sufficient  lands  upon  which  the  entire  prison  population  may  be  placed  perma- 
nently at  farm  and  agricultural  labor. 

"  The  lands  thus  purchased  should  be  grouped  together,  if  not  all  in  one  tract, 
and  sufficiently  near  to  be  directly  controlled  by  one  central  headquarters,  and  of 
quick  and  easy  access  to  each  other.  A  more  perfect  administration  of  the  police 


104  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

of  the  prison  would  thus  be  secured,  as  well  as  the  economical  management  of  the 
labor  of  the  convicts  and  the  general  operations  of  the  penitentiary. 

"The  system  of  contracting  with  landowners,  for  planting  operations  on  the 
share  plan  or  any  other  basis,  is  unsatisfactory,  but  could  not  be  avoided  by  the 
board  under  the  conditions  of  the  penitentiary. 

"  The  State  owns  3  farms  and  has  worked  10  other  farms,  three  of  which  they 
rent  for  so  much  money  per  acre,  and  the  other  7  they  work  on  what  is  known 
as  the  '  share  system,'  the  landlord  furnishing  the  land,  teams,  etc..  and  the  State 
furnishing  the  hands,  and  dividing  the  crop  equally. 

"The  chief  aim  of  the  penitentiary  authorities,  and  those  who  have  the  man- 
agement of  convicts  in  hand,  should  be,  first,  to  use  every  effort  to  cause  the 
death  rate  to  be  as  small  as  possible;  second,  to  have  as  few  escapes  as  possible; 
and  third,  to  make  as  good  financial  showing  as  possible  after  the  first  two 
objects  have  been  accomplished. 

"  The  contract  method  involves  the  annual  breaking  up  and  moving  of  convicts 
from  place  to  place,  thus  involving  the  State  in  great  and  unnecessary  expense. 
Besides,  it  is  not  compatible  with  a  uniform  and  systematic  prison  discipline, 
nor  those  sanitary  regulations  that  can  only  be  put  in  operation  in  a  permanent 
establishment.  It  is  impossible  for  the  State  to  provide  the  convicts  and  officers 
with  the  kind  of  buildings  and  structures  that  a  State  should  provide  for  one  of 
its  institutions. 

"  These  considerations,  in  the  estimation  of  the  board,  are  not  only  impor- 
tant, but  are  controlling,  in  the  adoption  of  a  permanent  basis  for  the  State 
prison,  and  we  earnestly  recommend  that  the  board  of  control  be  authorized  by 
legislation  to  sell  such  lands  as  they  have  by  experience  found  to  be  unprofitable, 
and  use  the  money  so  realized,  together  with  the  funds  in  the  hands  of  the 
treasurer  to  the  credit  of  the  penitentiary,  and  to  assume  such  obligation  as 
may  be  necessary  to  purchase  good,  productive  woodland,  and  clear  same  for  use 
by  the  State." 

MISSOURI. 

The  prisoners  at  the  State  penitentiary,  with  the  exception  of  those  employed 
in  the  incidental  work  of  the  institution,  or  in  manufacturing  supplies  for  the 
same,  are  worked  within  the  prison  walls,  under  the  contract  system,  and  are 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  saddlery,  brooms,  boots  and  shoes,  clothing,  and 
other  industries. 

The  warden,  in  his  biennial  report  for  the  years  1897  and  1898,  states: 

"That  at  the  beginning  of  his  administration  there  were  1,100  male  convicts 
working  under  contract,  and  that  during  the  two  years  the  number  was  increased 
to  a  daily  average  of  1,362;  also  that  there  are  60  females  in  the  penitentiary,  and 
25  are  working  under  contract,  and  with  more  room  the  entire  number  could  be 
contracted." 

The  male  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  in  some  of  the  counties,  and  at  the  work- 
house in  St.  Louis  are  worked  on  the  public  roads,  also  at  quarrying  stone  and  in 
doing  necessary  work  on  the  premises.  The  female  prisoners  at  the  workhouse 
at  St.  Louis  sew,  scrub,  wash,  and  do  general  housework  of  the  institution.  The 
inmates  of  the  house  of  refuge  in  St.  Louis  manufacture  the  clothes,  shoes,  and 
other  supplies  used  by  the  institution. 

MONTANA. 

During  the  year  1898  the  convicts  at  the  State  prison  were  employed  as  brick 
masons,  stone  masons,  carpenters,  and  in  other  occupations  in  erecting  the  peni- 
tentiary buildings,  doing  all  the  work  of  building,  except  the  superintending,  in 
a  satisfactory  manner.  During  1899  they  had  no  employment  beyond  cleaning 
the  buildings  and  other  work  incidental  to  the  work  of  the  institution. 

The  inmates  of  the  State  reform  school  are  employed  in  the  various  duties  inci- 
dent to  the  management  of  the  farm,  and  caring  for  the  buildings  and  grounds, 
and  the  domestic  labor  of  the  school.  During  the  spring  and  summer  a  majority 
of  the  boys  are  kept  employed  planting,  hoeing,  and  caring  for  the  crops,  also 


PRISON   LABOR.  10") 

handling  and  caring  for  the  live  stock.  The  laundry  furnishes  practical  work 
for  some  of  the  older  boys,  and  quite  a  force  of  boys  is  kept  busy  in  the  boys' 
building;  and  in  the  kitchen  the  boys  learn  the  practical  part  of  baking  and  pre- 
paring food. 

The  girls  are  employed  in  the  kitchen  in  the  girls'  building,  in  the  sewing 
room,  and  in  the  general  duties  of  the  hall  and  dormitory,  and  in  caring  for  the 
building  generally. 

The  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  are,  as  a  rule,  not  employed.  In  the  city  jails 
they  are  sometimes  employed  on  the  streets  under  the  "  chain-gang  system." 

NEBRASKA. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  State  penitentiary  for  the  year  ending  December 
1 , 1898,  the  prisoners  were  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cooperage  and  brooms 
under  the  contract  system,  also  in  work  incident  to  the  care  of  the  institution  and 
in  the  manufacture  of  supplies  and  the  cultivation  of  farm  products  for  the  use 
of  the  same. 

The  cooperage  contractors  employ  110  prisoners,  paying  the  State  35  cents  per 
man  per  day  for  the  labor  and  $175  per  month  for  steam  power.  The  broom  con- 
tractors employ  95  prisoners,  and  pay  from  37|  cents  to  45  cents  per  day  per  man 
for  labor. 

The  shoe  shop  has  recently  been  established  by  the  State,  where  7  prisoners  are 
employed,  manufacturing  shoes  for  this  and  other  State  institutions. 

The  warden  recommends  that  a  law  be  enacted  authorizing  the  sale  of  all  peni- 
tentiary lands  located  in  different  counties  throughout  the  State,  and,  from  the 
money  realized  from  such  sale,  land  for  farming  purposes  to  be  purchased  as  close 
as  practicable  to  the  penitentiary.  The  State  has  paid  $434.50  in  the  last  year  for 
the  lease  of  190  acres  of  land  near  the  penitentiary,  which  amount -could  be  saved 
if  the  State  would  purchase  land  as  stated. 

He  also  recommends  that  $534.45  rent,  collected  from  penitentiary  land  located 
in  different  parts  of  the  State,  be  placed  to  the  maintenance,  penitentiary,  special 
labor  fund. 

The  inmates  of  the  State  industrial  school  for  juvenile  offenders  are  employed 
in  various  industries  and  educational  pursuits.  Farming  and  gardening  are 
important  industries  conducted  at  the  institution,  and  the  superintendent  recom- 
mends the  acquisition  of  more  land  and  the  extension  of  farming  pursuits. 

NEVADA. 

The  warden  of  the  State  prison  reports  that  there  are  only  about  60  convicts,  on 
the  average,  confined  there  during  the  year,  and  that  their  time  is  occupied  in 
cooking,  washing,  and  ironing,  tailoring,  and  the  miscellaneous  duties  incident  to 
the  institution. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  worked  under  the  contract  system,  a  fixed 
sum  being  paid  per  day  per  convict,  and  the  State  having  general  control  of  the 
convicts. 

With  one  or  two  exceptions  no  work  is  done  by  the  prisoners  in  the  county  jails, 
there  being  no  system  for  their  regular  employment. 

The  inmates  of  the  State  industrial  school  are  employed  on  the  farm  connected 
with  the  institution,  also  in  the  general  work  incident  to  the  care  of  the  buildings 
and  manufacturing  the  necessary  supplies;  also,  under  the  contract  or  piece-price 
system  in  the  manufacture  of  hosiery.  The  State  furnishes  the  building,  power, 
heat,  and  light,  and  the  contractor  employes  the  inmates  when  they  are  not  other- 
wise engaged. 


106  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

The  convicts  at  the  penitentiary  are  employed  under  the  piece-price  system. 
The  State  furnishes  the  labor,  power,  and  room,  and  the  contractor  furnishes  the 
tools,  furniture,  and  materials.  The  contracts  are  made  for  4-year  periods  and  at 
fixed  prices  per  piece,  dozen,  gross,  or  yard,  as  the  case  may  be,  of  the  articles 
manufactured . 

A  number  of  the  prisoners  were  also  employed  in  making  up  articles  of  clothing 
for  both  male  and  female  prisoners,  and  in  making  the  bedding  used  throughout 
the  prison. 

The  official  report  of  the  industrial  operations  of  the  prison  for  the  year  1898, 
-  states — 

"  That  the  average  number  of  prisoners  employed  during  the  year  upon  contract 
work  was  579i,  and  the  number  employed  in  the  necessary  work  of  the  prison  was 
251,  making  a  total  average  of  837|  employed  during  the  year.  The  computed 
value  of  the  services  of  those  engaged  in  ordinary  labor  is  45  cents  per  day,  and 
of  the  skilled  labor  employed  at  mechanical  work  75  cents  per  day. 

"  The  anticipated  increased  number  of  prisoners, whose  employment  was  profit- 
able, and  the  increased  value  to  be  derived  from  their  labor ,was  fully  realized,  as 
the  average  number  of  men  employed  was  579,  while  the  average  number  employed 
during  the  preceding  year  was  426,  an  increase  of  153  men,  while  the  increase  in 
revenue  from  the  labor  of  prisoners  employed  was  $19,104.85." 

The  prisoners  in  some  of  the  county  penitentiaries,  jails,  and  workhouses,  are 
employed  in  quarries  and  in  making  macadam  for  county  roads,  also  under  the 
piece-price  system  and  in  the  work  incident  to  the  care  of  the  buildings,  while  in 
others  no  work  is  supplied  for  them. 

The  inmates  of  the  State  industrial  school  for  girls  and  of  the  State  reform 
school  are  employed  in  various  mechanical  industries  of  a  reformatory  and  educa- 
tional character,  also  in  making  supplies  for  the  institution,  and  at  the  reform 
school  in  manufacturing  brushes  under  the  State-account  system. 

NEW  MEXICO. 

The  convicts  at  the  Territorial  penitentiary  are  employed  in  the  construction  of 
the  capitol  buildings,  enlarging  the  penitentiary,  in  the  manufacture  of  brick  and 
lime,  and  also  in  farming  on  a  small  scale.  All  these  industries  are  under  the 
direct  control  of  the  penitentiary  officials.  The  superintendent  in  his  report  for 
1898  states  as  follows: 

"Although  the  work  on  the  extension  was  commenced  in  May,  1897,  but  little 
progress  in  the  erection  could  be  made,  as  the  rebuilding  of  the  Territorial  capitol 
and  the  making  of  brick  for  the  same  required  sometimes  more  men  than  the 
actual  working  strength  of  the  prison  was  able  to  supply.  But  in  the  face  of 
these  obstacles,  2,341  cubic  yards  of  excavations  have  been  made,  and  the  dirt 
carted  away;  440  yards  of  concrete  spread;  1,941  perches  of  solid  stone  founda- 
tion placed,  and  upon  this  foundation  2,150  linear  feet  of  rough  ashlar  wall,  rest- 
ing on  250  linear  feet  of  nicely  cut  water  table,  has  thus  far  been  erected. 

"  The  steady  increase  in  the  number  of  convicts  makes  it  an  imperative  neces- 
sity to  complete  the  new  cell  house.  This  can  be  accomplished  under  favorable 
conditions  within  6  months. 

"  There  are  now  some  notable  instances  of  native  criminals  at  this  prison  who 
have  always  followed  an  idle  life  that  have  developed  here  into  skilled  and 
industrious  workmen;  no  longer  shirking  labor,  but  eager  to  execute  and  proud 
to  display  their  work.  Two  years  ago  our  convicts  commenced  to  learn  the  dress- 
ing of  stone  in  the  prison  yard,  and  to-day  we  have  a  dozen  convicts  who  may 
justly  be  ranked  as  first-class  workmen.  A  few  good  carpenters,  quite  a  number 
of  expert  bricklayers,  some  plasterers  and  blacksmiths,  tailors,  and  even  skilled 
photographers  have  been  employed. 

"  It  is  necessary  to  place  the  Territorial  penitentiary  on  as  near  a  self-support- 
ing basis  as  possible.  The  wisdom  of  this  is  plain  to  everyone.  It  is  also  equally 
true  that  industries  should  be  taken  up  which  will  not  interfere  with  the  usual 
employment  of  the  industrious,  honest,  and  worthy  wage  earners  of  the  land. 


PRISON    LABOR.  107 

"  This  matter  has  been  carefully  investigated, "and  it  is  believed  that  the  follow- 
ing machinery  will  supply  the  best  means  of  carrying  out  the  object  above  stated: 

"A  brick  press  of  sufficient  capacity  to  furnish  employment  to  a  considerable 
number  of  men.  This  machine  is  needed  more  especially  for  the  reason  that  the 
present  one  has  been  in  constant  use  for  5  years  and  is  practically  worn-out.  The 
manufacture  of  brick  has  been  a  source  of  much  revenue  to  the  Territory.  Aside 
from  the  number  sold,  over  6,000,000  have  been  furnished  different  Territorial 
institutions,  representing  a  saving  to  the  taxpayers  of  about  $30,000.  By  putting 
in  this  new  machine  the  capacity  of  the  penitentiary  brickyard  will  be  materially 
increased,  and  the  earnings  of  the  institution  added  to  in  a  proportionate  degree. 

"Second.  Machinery  to  manufacture  terra-cotta  lumber,  which  includes  the 
manufacture  of  sewer  pipe.  This  industry  is  unknown  in  New  Mexico,  and  a 
ready  market  will  be  found  for  the  product  as  far  south  as  Mexico." 

The  prisoners  in  jails  are,  as  a  rule,  not  employed. 

NEW  YORK. 

The  penitentiaries  in  this  State  are  county  institutions,  and  are  intended  for  the 
detention  of  short-termed  convicts  committed  thereto  for  minor  offenses.  There 
are  C  in  the  State.  Counties  not  having  penitentiaries  of  their  own  send  this  class 
of  convicts,  by  contract,  to  the  penitentiary  of  some  other  county.  The  convicts 
in  some  of  these  penitentiaries  are  now  (June,  1899)  employed  in  the  manufacture 
ol  products  for  use  in  county  institutions;  but  in  some  of  these  penitentiaries  the 
new  law  has  not  yet  gone  into  active  operation,  owing  to  the  fact  that  at  the  time 
it  was  enacted  the  penitentiaries  had  existing  contracts  under  a  former  system, 
which  have  not  yet  expired,  and  which  the  courts  have  held  they  are  bound  to 
fulfill  notwithstanding  the  enactment  of  this  law. 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  law  in  this  State  that  all  convicts  sentenced  for  terms 
exceeding  one  year  shall  be  sent  to  State  institutions  known  as  "  State  prisons  "  or 
'•State  reformatories."  The  convicts  in  this  State  are  employed  either  in  doing 
the  work  of  the  institution  in  which  they  are  confined  or  in  the  manufacture  of 
products  for  the  use  of  that  institution,  or  for  the  use  of  the  State  or  its  institu- 
tions, or  for  the  use  of  the  political  divisions  of  the  State  or  their  institutions.  No 
product  of  the  prisons  is  sold  in  the  public  markets.  The  goods  made  in  the  prisons 
are  furnished  to  the  State  and  the  political  divisions  thereof  and  to  the  State 
institutions  at  a  price  determined  by  the  board  of  classification,  consisting  of  the 
comptroller,  the  State  commissioner  of  prisons,  the  superintendent  of  prisons,  and 
the  commissioner  of  lunacy,  and  is  intended  to  be  as  near  the  usual  market  price 
for  such  labor  and  supplies  as  possible.  The  industries  in  which  the  convicts  shall 
be  employed  are  determined  by  the  State  commission  of  prisons. 

The  following  quotations  from  the  report  of  the  State  commission  of  prisons  for 
the  year  1898  show  the  present  condition  and  the  future  prospects  of  the  industries 
in  the  prisons  and  penitentiaries: 

"  The  industries  in  the  State  prisons  have  been  very  successful  during  the  fiscal 
year  ending  October  1,  1898.  The  object  of  the  law  (to  give  employment  to  the 
convicts,  as  required  by  the  constitution)  has  been  accomplished,  and  it  has  been 
done  in  such  a  way  as  to  remove  the  unfair  competition  of  the  old  system ,  which  had 
forced  an  abandonment  of  some  industries.  There  is  a  revival  of  the  brass  industry 
and  the  manufacture  of  iron  hoppers  for  use  in  sanitary  closets,  and  of  other 
industries  that  had  been  nearly  driven  out  by  the  competition  of  those  speculat- 
ing contractors  for  prison  labor,  who  were  often  not  taxpayers,  and  were  able  to 
make  a  market  price  of  such  goods  so  low  as  to  drive  out  the  manufacture  by  free 
labor.  There  are  no  more  complaints  of  the  '  sweat  shops,'  which  constituted  a 
great  social  evil,  growing  out  of  the  effort  to  compete  with  the  manufacture, 
through  contracts  for  prison  labor,  in  the  production  of  women's  calico  and  ging- 
ham wrappers  and  gowns  at  50  cents  per  dozen,  waists  at  30  cents  per  dozen, 
men's  trousers  at  75  cents  per  dozen  pairs,  and  fine  laundered  shirts  at  30  cents 
per  dozen.  Yet,  as  stated,  the  convicts  are  more  fully  employed  than  before,  and 
the  State  is  receiving  the  full  value  of  their  labor. 

•'The  labor  of  aboiit  one-third  of  the  convicts  in  each  prison  is  required  in 
manufacturing  supplies  for  the  prison,  laundry  work  and  repairing,  and  as  clerks, 


108  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

engineers,  waiters,  cooks,  firemen,  care  of  cellars  and  corridors,  etc..  about  the 
institution. 

"  The  sales  of  manufactured  goods  have  been  very  large,  and  demonstrate  the 
fact  that  the  convicts,  not  only  in  the  State  prisons,  but  in  the  penitentiaries  and 
other  institutions,  will  be  kept  fully  employed  in  the  production  of  goods  for 
use  by  the  officials  and  institutions  of  the  State  and  its  political  divisions. 

"  It  is  now  practicable  to  figure  out  the  amount  received  for  labor  of  convicts 
in  the  State  prisons  under  the  new  system.  This  makes  a  good  showing,  and 
indicates  that  with  the  natural  increase  of  production  and  the  regularity  that  will 
come  from  experience  and  management  the  convicts  will  earn  enough  to  pay  the 
cost  of  their  maintenance. 

"  The  estimates  for  1898  and  1899  have  come  to  the  commission  more  promptly 
and  for  larger  amounts  than  for  1897.  The  satisfactory  quality  of  the  goods,  the 
promptness  with  which  requisitions  are  filled  or  certificates  furnished  to  permit 
purchases  in  the  open  market  because  of  inability  of  the  prisons  to  promptly  fill  the 
orders,  the  general  relief  from  the  importunity  of  the  salesmen,  and  the  economy 
to  the  institutions  in  getting  the  goods  without  paying  commissions  or  wages  of 
agents  are  elements  that  make  the  new  system  more  attractive  than  was  expected. 

"  The  penitentiaries  are  all  situated  in  or  near  large  cities,  and  are  in  populous 
counties  where  are  many  public  works  and  institutions  to  be  supplied.  The  field 
is  ample  for  the  employment  of  the  convicts  in  those  penitentiaries,  now  that  the 
number  to  be  employed  is  so  greatly  reduced. 

"  In  each  of  the  penitentiaries  the  clothing  for  the  inmates  is  made  from  the 
cloth  purchased  of  the  State  institutions,  and  they  make  their  own  boots.  They 
can  therefore  well  extend  those  industries  to  the  manufacture  of  clothing  and 
boots  and  shoes  for  the  county  poor  and  for  the  various  institutions  in  each 
county. 

"  The  '  tramp'  class,  which  is  generally  useless  for  any  other  purpose,  can  be 
employed  in  breaking  stone  for  use  in  road  and  street  building.  Convicts  can  be 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  wheelbarrows,  street  brooms,  picks,  shovels, 
trucks,  and  other  tools  used  in  road  building  and  other  public  works.  They  can 
make  mattresses  and  many  other  supplies  for  hospitals  and  asylums.  In  Kings 
County  a  large  number  have  been  employed  outside  the  walls  in  excavating,  grad- 
ing, setting  curb,  and  the  like;  also  in  ditching  and  grading  the  almshouse  farm; 
rebuilding,  painting,  and  otherwise  improving  and  repairing  county  buildings 
and  hospitals,  thus  returning  in  substantial  improvements  more  than  was  received 
under  the  former  employment  by  contractors,  which  caused  such  unjust  compe- 
tition with  manufacturers  by  free  labor. 

"  For  the  most  part  the  convicts  in  jails  in  this  State  are  not  employed.  Pris- 
oners are  not  sentenced  to  jails  in  this  State  usually,  except  for  very  short  terms. 
In  a  few  counties  the  prisoners  in  the  jails  are  employed  to  some  extent  in  work 
on  highways.*  In  the  reformatories  in  this  State  at  the  present  time  the  con- 
victs are  employed  in  doing  the  ordinary  work  of  the  institution  in  which  they  are 
confined,  and  in  the  manufacture  of  the  products  to  be  used  in  that  institution; 
and  during  all  the  rest  of  their  time  they  are  employed  in  industrial  training  and 
instruction.  In  these  reformatories  no  products  are  manufactured  for  the  State 
or  any  other  institution  or  for  sale  in  the  market." 

The  advance  summary  of  the  reports  of  the  superintendent  of  State  prisons 
and  the  State  commission  of  prisons  for  the  year  ending  September  30, 1899,  shows 
that  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  the  sales  of  goods  manufactured  in  the  three 
State  prisons,  which  is  explained  to  be  due  to  the  competition  of  the  State  insane 
asylums  and  other  institutions.  The  total  sales  were  $494,720  in  1898  and  $394,.301 
in  1899.  The  net  earnings  of  these  prisons  from  labor  in  1899  are  given  at  $54,000. 
Meantime  there  had  been  some  increase  in  the  sales  of  goods  manufactured  in  the 
various  local  penitentiaries  and  the  reformatories.  The  commission  of  prisons 
concludes  as  follows: 

"All  things  considered,  the  present  industrial  system  of  employing  convicts 
has  made  satisfactory  progress,  and  is  furnishing  a  reasonable  amount  of  employ- 
ment to  the  convicts,  and  a  remuneration  to  the  State  as  great,  if  not  greater, 
than  the  system  superseded  by  the  new  constitution,  and  that  in  a  little  more  time, 
when  the  output  of  prison-made  goods  has  been  more  accurately  adjusted  to  the 
demand  and  the  difficulties  incident  to  the  establishment  of  new  industries  and 
the  purchase  of  prison-made  goods  by  public  officials  have  been  overcome,  the 
earnings  of  the  convicts  will  be  largely  increased  and  the  system  will  be  even 
more  successful  than  at  the  present  time"." 


PRISON    LABOR.  109 

Th«s*  reports  show  a  slight  decrease  in  the  number  of  prisoners  in  the  State 
prisons,  and  a  considerable  decrease  in  the  number  in  the  penitentiaries.  The 
number  of  prisoners  becoming  insane  in  the  State  prisons  was  54  in  1897,  52  in 
1898,  and  45  in  1899.  The  question  is  raised  by  the  reports  whether  any  or  all  of 
these  reductions  are  due  in  any  degree  to  the  change  in  the  system  of  convict 
labor. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

The  able-bodied  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  at  Raleigh  are  employed  about 
as  follows:  Nine-tenths  on  State  farms,  producing  corn,  wheat,  rye,  cotton,  pea- 
nuts, vegetables,  etc.,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  institution  and  for  market; 
one-tenth  in  the  manufacture  of  brick  on  State  account;  one-twentieth  in  the 
machine  and  repair  shop;  one-twentieth  in  the  mattress  factory.  State  convicts 
are  also  worked  under  lease  or  contract  by  railroad  companies. 

The  board  of  directors  and  the  general  manager  of  the  penitentiary  report  that 
farming  operations  during  1898  were  more  extended  than  ever  before. 

"Two  new  farms  have  been  added,  namely:  The  Tillery,  on  the  Roanoke,  and 
the  rice  farms  on  the  Cape  Fear  River.  The  former  is  operated  on  the  cropper 
system,  the  penitentiary  furnishing  supervisor,  overseers,  guards,  and  convicts 
to  make  the  crop,  and  getting  one-half  of  the  products. 

"  There  have  been  cultivated  265  acres  in  rice,  which  is  now  being  thrashed,  and 
the  yield  is  estimated  to  be  10,000  bushels.  On  5,300  acres  we  have  produced  3,283 
bales  of  cotton,  the  largest  amount  ever  before  produced  on  the  State  farms;  but 
at  an  average  of  4$  cents,  it  is  not  encouraging  to  one  who  would  hope  to  make  this 
great  business  self -sustaining.  On  about  4,350  acres  there  have  been  made  73,700 
bushels  of  corn,  which  will  be  twice  as  much  as  will  be  needed  for  support.  About 
500  acres  were  planted  in  peanuts,  and  the  yield  has  been  about  9,000  bushels,  a 
poor  yield,  the  season  being  bad  for  them.  Eight  hundred  and  five  acres  were 
sown  in  wheat  and  produced  7,320  bushels,  5,394£  bushels  of  which  are  stored  at 
the  Weldon  Mills,  Weldon,  N.  C. ,  to  be  ground  into  flour.  Fourteen  hundred  and 
eighty  acres  were  sown  in  oats,  and  produced  24,075  bushels,  and  many  more  would 
have  been  saved  but  for  the  extremely  wet  season  in  harvest.  There  have  been 
cultivated  in  all  crops  over  12,800  acres,  being  llf  acres  for  every  man  and  woman 
convict,  old  and  young,  sick  and  well,  in  the  penitentiary,  and  16  acres  to  every 
man  and  woman,  old  and  young,  sick  and  well,  who  were  on  these  farms  to  labor, 
and  about  39^  acres  for  every  horse  and  mule. 

"lam  satisfied  that  at  the  present  prices  of  farm  products,  with  its  too  exten- 
sive farming  operations,  its  aggregated  enormous  rents,  its  exceedingly  large 
guano  bills,  its  great  expense  to  keep  up  the  supply  of  team  and  tools,  together 
with  the  diminution  in  convicts,  with  just  as  many  officers,  overseers  and  guards 
to  pay  as  it  would  be  if  there  were  several  hundred  more  convicts,  the  peniten- 
tiary can  not  be  self-sustaining. 

"It  therefore  ought  to  be  brought  down  to  a  narrow  scope,  and  possibly  it  were 
better  if  one  or  two  of  the  best  farms  were  purchased  by  the  State  and  farmed 
all  together  in  provision  crops. 

"  The  operation  of  the  machine  shop  has  been  confined  entirely  to  repairing. 

"  Finding  it  very  necessary  to  send  the  women  to  the  farms  to  help  gather  the 
crops,  the  laundry  was  operated  for  only  ten  months.  During  this  period  it  was 
run  at  its  full  capacity.  What  machinery  is  now  in  the  laundry  is  about  worn 
out,  and  I  feel  confident,  with  new  and  improved  machinery,  that  the  female 
prisoners  will  be  of  more  pecuniary  benefit  here  than  elsewhere. 

"  We  have  made  in  the  shop  this  winter  2,073  pairs  of  shoes,  in  addition  to 
doing  the  general  repair  work  of  the  prison. 

"  We  have  made  and  burned  9  kilns  of  brick  of  225,000  each,  and  have  now  on 
hand,  hard  and  salmon:  Hard,  7,800;  salmon,  237,544. 

"  The  shirt  factory  since  last  March  has  been  operated,  employing  on  an  aver- 
age 70  prisoners.  In  the  past  60  days  there  has  been  a  laundry  established  in  con- 
nection with  the  shirt  factory,  employing  25  prisoners.  Federal  prisoners  are 
almost  exclusively  used  for  this  work. 

"We  cultivated  35  acres  in  a  garden,  which  gave  the  officers  and  prisoners 
abundant  supply  of  all  kinds  of  vegetables  and  added  much  to  the  health  and 
comfort  of  all.  After  being  supplied  with  summer  vegetables,  we  now  have  on 
hand  a  sufficient  supply  of  turnips  and  potatoes  to  last  during  the  winter." 

Prisoners  in  jails,  and  in  fact  all  convicts  other  than  those  sent  to  the  State 
prison,  are  worked  on  the  public  roads. 


110  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

NORTH  DAKOTA. 

According  to  the  biennial  report  of  the  trustees  and  warden  of  the  State  peni- 
tentiary for  the  period  ending  June  30, 1898,  the  convicts  were  engaged  principally 
in  agricultural  pursuits,  a  portion  of  the  product  being  sold  and  the  rest  being 
consumed  in  the  institution.  The  convicts  are  also  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  brick  under  the  State  account  system. 

The  warden  states  that,  "  The  above-named  industries  are  the  only  ones  that 
can  be  carried  on,  as  the  law  now  stands,  out  of  which  a  revenue  can  be  obtained, 
as  there  is  a  large  part  of  the  year  in  which  little  or  nothing  can  be  done  in  either, 
and  as  the  work  about  the  institution  and  grounds,  including  the  capitol  and 
executive  mansion,  affords  employment  for  less  than  one-quarter  of  the  inmates, 
it  is  readily  to  be  seen  that  the  proposition  of  furnishing  employment  for  all  the 
inmates  all  the  time,  as  required  by  law,  is  a  difficult  one  if  not  an  absolute  impos- 
sibility." 

OHIO. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  that  are  not  required  by  the  State  to  care 
for  the  institution  and  manufacture  supplies  for  the  same  are  employed  under  the 
piece-price  and  contract  systems.  Under  the  piece-price  system  the  State  receives 
for  the  product  of  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  a  price  agreed  upon  between  the 
board  of  managers  of  the  penitentiary  and  the  firms  or  individuals  doing  business 
at  the  institution.  The  prisoners  remain  in  the  complete  control  of  the  State,  while 
the  contractor  pays  for  the  product  of  their  labor,  and  it  is  claimed  that  this  does 
away  with  the  criticism  of  the  old  contract  system,  viz,  that  the  convict's  daily 
task  imposed  by  the  contractor  was  greater  than  it  should  be.  Now,  the  State, 
through  its  penitentiary  officials,  prescribes  the  task,  care  being  always  taken  so 
that  impossibilities  are  never  required  of  the  prisoners.  All  contracts  made  since 
1884  have  been  under  this  system. 

The  contractor  pays  only  for  the  finished  and  accepted  product.  The  losses 
during  process  of  manufacture,  when  such  occur,  do  not  burden  the  contractor. 
During  the  year  ending  October  81,  1898,  the  revenue  from  the  work  of  the  con- 
victs under  the  piece-price  system  was  $114,379.84,  and  under  the  contract  system 
$80,944.71. 

The  work  performed  by  the  convict  is  such  as  will  enable  him  to  secure  when 
discharged  profitable  employment  at  labor  similar  to  that  performed  by  him  while 
in  prison,  where  he  was  not  hindered  or  prevented  from  being  self-supporting  on 
discharge  by  teaching  him  trades  at  hand  work  while  the  outside  used  machinery. 

The  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  have  no  employment.  At  the  workhouse  in 
Cincinnati  there  are  about  340  male  prisoners,  and  about  200  of  them  are  employed 
under  the  contract  system.  Of  the  65  female  prisoners  10  are  employed  under 
contract.  The  prisoners  not  working  under  contract  are  employed  as  far  as  pos- 
sible in  the  general  work  of  cleaning  the  buildings  and  in  manufacturing  supplies 
for  the  institution. 

The  Cincinnati  house  of  refuge  is  rather  a  home  and  a  school  for  the  training 
of  unfortunate  children.  "A  large  proportion  of  the  children  who  come  under 
its  care  are  committed  as  homeless,  and  all  are  sent  there  more  to  escape  the 
vicious  influences  of  others  than  in  consequence  of  their  own  evil  doing.  The 
whole  course  of  the  discipline,  therefore,  is  paternal  and  not  punitive.  There  is 
a  constant  pressure  upon  the  child  encouraging  him  to  habits  of  industry.  Each 
inmate  is  required  to  attend  the  school  and  to  devote  a  definite  portion  of  the  day 
to  the  learning  of  some  useful  trade." 


PRISON    LABOR.  Ill 

OKLAHOMA. 

The  Territorial  convicts  are  kept  in  the  Kansas  Penitentiary  by  contract,  the 
rate  heretofore  having  been  25  cents  per  day.  In  April  of  this  year,  however,  the 
Kansas  authorities  stated  that,  owing  to  a  lack  of  employment  even  for  their  own 
prisoners,  they  could  no  longer  keep  the  Oklahoma  prisoners  for  less  than  50  cents 
per  day.  A  contract  was  finally  made  with  the  Kansas  authorities  to  retain  the 
Oklahoma  prisoners  for  35  cents  per  day,  the  contract  to  run  for  1  year,  and  until 
terminated  by  60  days'  written  notice  by  either  party. 

During  the  present  year  the  Territory  has  expended  for  the  transportation  and 
care  of  its  convicts  $18,220.13,  an  increase  of  $1,715.83  over  the  preceding  year. 

The  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  have  no  employment,  and  in  some  cases  spend 
their  time  reading  and  playing  games. 

OREGON. 

An  act  of  the  legislature  of  1895  authorized  the  employment  of  the  convicts  at  the 
State  penitentiary  under  the  contract  system,  and  the  majority  of  them  were  so 
employed  during  1898  and  1899  in  the  manufacture  of  stoves;  others  were  engaged 
in  manufacturing  supplies  for  the  institution,  and  also  in  the  manufacture  of 
brick  for  the  use  of  public  buildings,  and  on  the  farm  and  gardens  of  the  prison 
as  well  as  other  work  incident  to  the  care  of  the  penitentiary  and  other  buildings. 

The  superintendent  of  the  penitentiary  in  his  report  for  the  two  years  ending 
December  31,  1898,  states  that — 

"  The  expenses  incurred  two  years  ago  in  ditching,  tilling,  and  grubbing  the 
lands  belonging  to  the  prison  have  resulted  in  the  stoppage  of  land  renting,  and 
the  returns  from  these  new  fields  of  farm  and  garden  products  are  far  beyond  the 
amounts  required  for  prison  consumption. 

"  No  brick  has  been  made  on  the  prison  yard  since  1895.  The  State  ought  to 
make  some  provision  by  which  brick  would  be  made  at  the  prison  yard  the  coming 
season.  There  is  on  hand  now  about  5,000  brick,  and  the  demands  of  the  various 
institutions  can  not  be  met  with  this  number. 

"  The  public  highways  run  through  the  penitentiary  land  for  three-quarters  of 
a  mile.  To  improve  this  section  of  the  road  was  considered  a  part  of  the  duty  of 
the  prison  management.  To  bring  the  roadbed  up  to  the  required  grade  3,780 
yards  of  dirt  were  hauled,  and  1,160  loads  of  gravel  completed  the  job.  No  better 
piece  of  dirt  and  gravel  road  can  be  found  in  the  State.  The  cost  in  labor  was 
213  days  with  team  and  1,023  days  work  of  men." 

There  is  no  system  of  employment  for  prisoners  in  jails. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  the  Eastern  Penitentiary,  at  Philadelphia,  the  work  of  the  convicts  is  per- 
formed entirely  within  the  cells.  In  the  Western  Penitentiary,  at  Allegheny, 
the  convicts  are  worked  in  workshops.  By  an  act  of  the  assembly  approved 
June  13,  1883,  the  contract  system  in  the  prisons  and  reformatory  institutions  of 
the  State  was  abolished,  and  it  was  directed  that  convicts  be  employed  for  and 
in  behalf  of  the  State.  The  number  of  convicts  that  may  be  employed  in  dif- 
ferent industries  is  also  limited.  The  effect  of  these  laws  on  the  industries  of 
the  two  institutions  named  above  is  shown  by  the  following  quotations  from  the 
annual  reports  covering  the  years  1897  and  1898.  The  report  for  the  Eastern 
Penitentiary  calls  attention  to  the  growing  tendency  there  and  elsewhere  to 
abolish  or  restrict  labor  in  penal  institutions,  and  states — 

"  That  there  can  be  no  justification  for  such  legislation.  It  answers  no  good 
purpose.  It  is  idle  to  suggest  that  it  protects  outside  labor.  The  output  from  all 
the  prisons  in  the  State,  if  run  to  the  utmost,  would  be  small  and  could  not  dis- 
turb the  labor  market  to  any  appreciable  extent.  It  is  merely  sentiment,  and 
can  not  stand  fair  investigation  for  a  moment.  A  father  would  not  be  com- 


112  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

mended,  who  had  four  sons,  one  of  whom  was  bad,  if  he  should  forbid  the  bad 
one  to  do  any  work  because  he  was  bad,  and  should  require  the  other  three  to 
support  the  bad  one  in  idleness. 

"The  act  of  assembly  of  the  18th  of  June,  1897,  specifies  that  not  more  than  5 
per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  inmates  shall  be  employed  in  the  manufacture 
of  brooms,  brushes,  orhollowware,  or  10  per  cent  in  the  manufacture  of  any  other 
kind  of  goods,  wares,  articles,  or  things  that  are  manufactured  elsewhere  in  the 
State.  Why  10  per  cent?  If  the  above  is  good  legislation,  it  would  be  better  to 
abolish  labor  altogether.  Ninety  per  cent  of  1 ,267  persons  in  the  Eastern  Peni- 
tentiary forbidden  to  work  for  years.  There  never  could  be  placed  on  a  statute 
book  more  monstrous  legislation  than  this.  It  is  a  disgrace  to  the  intelligence  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Every  prisoner  should  be  compelled  to  work — to  work 
hard  8  or  10  hours  every  day.  It  would  produce  greater  reformation  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  prisoners  than  all  other  means  combined.  The  act  produces  a  strange 
contradiction.  Every  prisoner  sent  to  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  is  condemned  by 
the  law  to  solitary  confinement  at  hard  labor,  and  yet  this  act  forbids  putting  90 
per  cent  of  those  thus  sentenced  to  any  labor  whatever. 

"It  is  frequently  contended  that  imprisonment  causes  mental  disorder.  The 
wonder  is  that  all  prisoners  incarcerated  for  years  and  forbidden  to  do  any  work, 
living  in  absolute  idleness,  do  not  go  raving  crazy.  In  the  name  of  humanity  this 
act  and  all  such  should  be  abolished  and  the  fullest  employment  given  to 
prisoners. 

"  It  was  on  October  22, 1829,  that  the  first  prisoner  was  received  into  the  peni- 
tentiary, and  from  that  time  to  the  present,  a  period  of  70  years,  20,016  have  been 
received,  convicted  of  crimes  of  every  character.  Each  one  of  that  great  num- 
ber was  subjected  to  individual  treatment,  and  I  confidently  believe  was  bettered 
both  in  health  and  morals  by  the  treatment  received. 

"  Many  efforts  have  been  made  during  the  last  decade  to  improve  the  condition 
of  prisoners  in  what  are  known  as  congregate  prisons  in  this  country  by  offering 
inducement  to  good  conduct,  such  as  good-time  law,  that  is,  deducting  time  off 
the  penalty  pronounced  by  the  court;  the  ticket -of -leave  mark  system,  here  called 
indeterminate  sentences,  and  parole,  formerly  known  in  Great  Britain  as  the 
Irish  system.  The  parole  scheme  is  now  very  generally  advocated  by  those  favor- 
ing congregate  prisons  or  reformatory  institutions.  Large  beneficial  results  are 
claimed  for  it.  It  is  even  stated  that  80  per  cent  of  the  prisoners  paroled  are 
reclaimed  from  crime  life. 

"All  such  estimates  are  and  must  be  untrustworthy.  They  are  mere  guesses. 
They  are  not  backed  by  any  authentic  statistics  of  the  subsequent  life  of  dis- 
charged convicts.  It  is  time  that  some  of  the  reformatories  who  parole  the  better 
portion  of  their  convicts  do,  during  the  time  of  such  paroles,  keep  some  oversight 
of  them.  It  is  also  true  that  many  of  the  paroled  prisoners  fail  to  live  up  to  the 
conditions  of  the  parole,  and  many  of  them  disappear  altogether.  All  reports 
from  sources  professing  to  give  any  definite  proportions  of  convict  reformations 
are  guesses,  dependent  on  the  temperament  of  the  guesser,  and  can  not  be  relied 
upon  for  scientific  or  statistical  purposes. 

"  From  a  long  continued  and  intimate  association  with  criminals  as  prisoners, 
I  have  a  strong  conviction  that  the  best  results  are  obtained  from  separate  con- 
finement. This  view  is  sustained  by  the  penologists  of  the  whole  world  outside 
of  the  United  States.  I  have  for  many  years  endeavored  to  follow  the  subsequent 
life  of  prisoners,  and  however  successful  I  have  been,  I  must  refrain  from  stating 
actual  numbers  or  percentages,  as  my  observations  and  information  are  frag- 
mentary and  can  not  be  reduced  to  figures  or  percentages  capable  of  proof.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  the  adoption  of  any  legal  plan  for  obtaining  information  might 
not,  on  the  whole,  do  more  harm  than  good,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  obviously  to 
the  interest  both  of  the  convicts  and  the  community  that  those  discharged,  who 
really  desire  to  pursue  an  honest  life,  should  quickly  and  imperceptibly  be  merged 
into  the  general  body  of  society. 

"  The  labor  act  of  the  last  legislature,  as  interpreted  by  Attorney-General 
McConnick,  only  permits  one  industry  for  the  manufacture  of  goods  for  the  open 
market  to  be  carried  on  and  only  10  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  penitentiary 
to  be  employed  at  that. 

"Ten  per  cent  of  the  inmates  are  employed  on  hosiery,  the  remaining  90 per 
cent  are  in  idleness,  except  such  as  can  be  employed  in  repairs  about  the  place 
and  making  clothes,  shoes,  blankets,  and  other  articles  used  by  the  prisoners." 

The  report  of  the  Western  Penitentiary  states  that  owing  to  • '  The  embarrassed 
conditions  of  labor  in  the  prison,  resulting  from  the  restrictions  placed  upon  its 
methods  by  the  law  passed  by  the  last  session  of  the  legislature,  the  law,  with  its 
radical  changes,  particularly  with  reference  to  its  limitations  as  to  the  number 


PRISON    LABOR.  113 

of  prisoners  to  be  employed  upon  various  industries,  has  thrown  out  of  work  and 
into  enforced  idleness  one-half  of  our  prison  population,  a  condition  which  you 
will  agree  with  us  is  to  be  greatly  deplored. 

"  The  law  referred  to  is  an  act  of  the  general  assembly,  approved  the  18th  day 
of  June,  1897,  directing  that  all  work  shall  be  performed  by  hand  or  foot  power, 
and  limiting  the  number  of  prisoners  to  be  employed  upon  productive  industries 
in  the  prisons  of  the  State.  The  immediate  result  of  this  law  was,  as  we  have 
stated,  that  exactly  one-half  of  the  number  of  our  men  hitherto  employed  here  in 
manufacturing  goods  for  sale  are  now  idle,  and  must  largely  remain  so  until 
remedial  legislation  is  enacted. 

' '  This  idleness  became  so  irksome  and  injurious  to  those  who  were  taken  from 
the  shops  that  measures  were  promptly  taken  to  give  relief,  so  far  as  possible,  by 
creating  nominal  positions,  and  work  of  an  extensive  character  was  undertaken 
in  improvements  upon  buildings  and  grounds,  giving  employment  to  some  during 
all  the  summer  months.  An  electric-light  plant  has  been  constructed  largely  by 
prison  labor.  Work  of  excellent  character  was  performed  in  wiring  the  build- 
ings and  erecting  a  power  house,  employing  many  young  and  able-bodied  men 
upon  valuable  labor  now  nearly  completed.  We  wish  more  labor  could  be  fur- 
nished as  likely  as  this  to  be  helpful  on  release  from  prison. 

"  We  were  instructed  by  eminent  counsel  that  the  provisions  of  the  bill  referred 
to  permit  the  employment  of  5  per  cent  of  the  prison  population  in  making 
brooms,  10  per  cent  in  making  hosiery,  and  20  per  cent  in  the  manufacture  of 
cocoa  mats  and  matting,  with  power  to  add  other  industries,  upon  which  10  per 
cent  of  the  prisoners  may  be  employed.  Acting  upon  this  legal  interpretation  of 
the  bill,  the  necessary  changes  were  made  in  the  shops.  Subsequently  we  learned 
that  the  attorney-general  of  the  State  had  given  an  opinion  to  the  industrial 
reformatory,  in  which  he  held  the  ground  that  if  5  per  cent  of  the  whole  number 
of  inmates  were  employed  on  anyone  of  the  industries  named  in  the  act  with  that 
limitation,  '  it  would  seem  to  be  impossible  to  employ  any  others  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  other  kinds  of  goods.'  Similar  language  is  used  if  work  of  10  or  20  per 
cent  limit  be  selected,  concluding  as  follows:  '  Difficult  as  it  may  be  to  under- 
stand the  reason  for  the  legislative  enactment,  *  *  *  the  employment  of  the 
inmates  would  therefore  be  5,  10,  or  20  per  cent  of  the  whole  number,  as  the  case 
might  be.' 

"  Other  institutions  ceased  at  once  all  productive  labor.  Work  was  continued 
here  throughout  the  year,  but  only  on  industries  previously  established,  as  we 
feared  to  hazard  investments  in  new  plants  until  further  legislation  made  the 
meaning  clear.  Wo  are  advised  by  those  who  framed  the  bill  and  took  part  in 
the  debate  that  the  interpretation  given  to  it  by  this  prison  conforms  to  the  inten- 
tion of  its  framers. 

"  We  desire  to  note  that  by  the  limitation  to  the  use  of  hand-power  tools  and 
machinery,  one  or  two  details  in  finishing  mats  and  knitting  tops  for  hosiery,  upon 
which  not  exceeding  4  persons  are  employed,  had  to  be  performed  in  shops  outside, 
entailing  a  direct  loss  of  $4,275.70  to  the  prison. 

"We  have,  as  briefly  as  possible,  called  your  attention  to  the  scope  and  results 
of  the  present  law,  and  we  have  confidence  that  our  legislators  will  make  the 
effort  to  apply  such  remedies  as  are  necessary  to  relieve  the  present  difficult  situa- 
tion. You  can  readily  see  that  the  enforced  idleness  of  such  a  largo  number  of 
prisoners  is  a  most  serious  matter.  It  is  not  merely  irksome,  but  pernicious  in 
its  results  to  the  prisoners.  Steady  employment,  whether  in  a  prison  or  upon  the 
outside,  is  a  power  of  incalculable  value  in  the  maintenance  of  order  and  in  the 
promotion  of  good  habits.  Idleness  fosters  discontent,  lawlessness,  and  disorder. 
It  is  particularly  so  in  prison  life,  and  idleness  inevitably  results  in  the  demoraliza- 
tion of  the  prisoner,  often  ending  in  his  physical,  mental,  and  moral  ruin. 

"Since  the  opening  of  this  prison,  some  seventy-three  years  ago,  its  manage- 
ment, in  their  reports  from  time  to  time,  have  emphasized  the  necessity  of  useful 
and  interesting  labor,  and  its  ameliorating  influences  upon  the  prisoner,  and  also 
its  effective  aid  in  helping  to  reduce  the  burden  of  support  devolving  upon  the 
taxpayers  of  the  counties  from  whence  the  prisoners  are  sent.  It  is  deeply  to  be 
regretted  that  in  the  assaults  made  upon  prison  labor  the  estimate  of  its  competi- 
tion with  outside  labor  has  been  so  greatly  exaggerated  as  to  create  an  unwar- 
ranted prejudice  in  the  minds  of  many  against  any  form  of  productive  labor  in 
prisons. 

"Statements  of  this  character  were  the  immediate  canse  of  the  passage  of  the 
present  law,  and  there  may  be  danger  of  further  retrograde  movements  by  legis- 
lative enactment  if  legislators,  who  are  legally  intrusted  with  the  care  and  pro- 
tection of  the  prisoner  as  a  ward  of  the  State,  are  not  'on  guard.' 

250A— VOL  III 8 


114  UNITED    STATES   INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

"  The  subject  of  convict  labor  has  been  a  very  perplexing  and  annoying  one  to 
legislators,  and  we  do  not  wonder  that  they  are  anxious  to  have  some  satisfactory 
plan  adopted  having  the  merit  of  permanence.  We  understand  that  the  Pennsyl- 
vania legislative  commission,  appointed  to  investigate  this  question,  are  prepared 
to  present  their  report  at  the  present  session  of  the  legislature,  and  will  doubtless 
accompany  the  same  with  the  draft  of  a  bill  in  harmony  with  their  suggestions. 
We  sincerely  trust  that  their  conclusions  may  receive  the  serious  consideration 
they  deserve,  and  that  such  a  plan  may  be  evolved  as  will  furnish  steady  and  use- 
ful employment  for  prison  inmates.  Anything  less  than  this  we  are  convinced 
will  be  only  temporary." 

The  wardens  of  some  of  the  county  prisons  report  as  follows: 

Berks  County  prison,  at  Reading:  Only  10  per  cent  of  the  convicts  are  employed. 
The  90  per  cent  are  idle,  except  the  few  who  are  employed  in  the  general  work 
incident  to  the  institution. 

Delaware  County  prison,  at  Media:  Two  convicts  are  employed  in  weaving  car- 
pet, 2  knitting  stockings,  2  toeing  stockings,  2  caning  chairs,  and  the  balance  sew- 
ing carpet  balls. 

Montgomery  County  prison,  at  Norristown:  Ten  per  cent  are  employed  in  weav- 
ing carpet  or  knitting  stockings  and  caning  chairs. 

Chester  County  prison,  at  West  Chester:  The  convicts  are  employed  in  scrub- 
bing and  baking;  the  women  in  making  clothes.  They  also  weave  cloths,  sheet- 
ing, and  drilling,  cane  chairs,  weave  carpets,  sew  and  cut  rags. 

The  superintendent  of  the  Allegheny  workhouse  states  that  the  institution  being 
a  corporation,  did  business  like  any  other  manufacturing  establishment  and 
employed  the  inmates,  and  as  many  thereof  in  manufacturing  as  the  trade  per- 
mitted or  required. 

"  Recent  legislation  abolishing  machinery  in  prisons  made  the  manufacture  of 
cooperage  with  unskilled  labor  impossible,  and  hampered  the  manufacture  of 
brooms  and  brushes.  A  further  restriction,  that  only  5  per  cent  of  the  inmates 
could  be  employed  allows  work  for  only  30  men  out  of  a  total  of  600  on  brooms 
and  the  same  number  on  brushes.  The  balance  have  to  be  idle,  except  such  for 
which  remunerative  work  can  be  found  around  the  prison. 

"The  above  restrictions  are  practically  an  abolishment  of  all  remunerative 
employment,  as  no  business  can  be  carried  on  satisfactorily  that  can  not  accomo- 
date  its  consumers  when  in  need  of  goods. 

"  It  may  so  happen  that  the  business  season  is  brisk,  requiring  more  goods,  while 
the  number  of  prisoners  falls  off,  reducing  the  number  to  be  employed  and  reduc- 
ing the  output." 

The  inmates  of  the  House  of  Correction,  Employment,  and  Reformation,  at 
Holmesburg,  Philadelphia,  are  employed  in  quarrying  stone  from  a  quarry  owned 
by  the  city,  and  on  the  farm  connected  with  the  institution,  as  well  as  on  the 
roads  and  highways  in  the  near  neighborhood. 

Inmates  of  the  reform  school  at  Morganza  are  employed  in  producing  articles 
required  for  use  in  the  institution,  and  are  taught  bricklaying,  blacksmithing, 
painting,  carpentering,  typewriting,  mechanical  drawing,  etc. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  employed  under  the  contract  system,  at 
rates  ranging  from  40  cents  to  50  cents  per  day  per  convict,  in  the  manufacture 
of  boots  and  shoes.  The  convicts  at  the  Providence  County  jail  are  employed  in 
the  same  way,  at  20  cents  per  day  per  convict.  A  contract  was  made  in  1892  for 
the  employment  of  150  convicts  in  making  boots  and  shoes,  for  3  years.  In  1895 
this  contract  was  renewed,  and  again,  December  1,  1898,  it  was  renewed,  each 
time  for  the  same  period  and  under  the  same  conditions.  During  the  past  year 
the  contractor  employed  an  average  daily  number  of  220. 

Another  contractor  employs  12  men  upon  wire  goods,  as  he  has  done  since  1878. 
The  short-termed  convicts  have  been  employed,  as  in  past  years,  in  farming. 


PRISON    LABOR.  115 

gardening,  and  quarrying  and  breaking  stone.    It  is  estimated  that  over  2.000  tons 
of  stone  have  been  broken  by  them  of  suitable  size  for  macadamizing  roads. 
The  superintendent  of  the  workhouse  and  house  of  correction  states  that — 

"  The  routine  of  labor  has  been  followed  as  usual  during  the  year,  the  skilled 
inmates  doing  the  repairs  of  the  institution  to  a  large  extent,  and  the  women  mak- 
ing and  mending  clothes,  washing,  ironing,  etc.  The  men  work  largely  out  of 
doors,  farming,  breaking  stone,  clearing  the  land,  and  building  roads. 

"  As  no  large  work  of  construction  was  going  on  the  past  year  requiring  the 
labor  of  the  prisoners,  it  was  possible  to  give  more  attention  to  the  farming,  and 
the  result  was  that  the  crops  were  larger  than  usual." 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

At  the  State  penitentiary  in  May,  1899,  there  were  246  convicts  hired  out  under 
leases  to  farmers,  at  $6.50  per  month  per  convict,  the  State  furnishing  clothes, 
shoes,  medicine,  and  medical  attention,  also  transportation.  One  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  were  worked  on  3  State  farms,  raising  products  for  consumption  and 
for  sale;  262  on  State  account  in  a  hosiery  mill  inside  the  prison  walls,  and  120  in 
the  prison  yard  and  hospital,  discharging  the  duties  incident  to  the  care  of  the 
institution. 

Prisoners  in  the  county  jails  are  usually  worked  under  the  chain-gang  system  on 
the  public  highways,  but  in  a  number  of  counties  they  are  given  no  employment. 

SOUTH  DAKOTA. 

The  warden  of  the  State  penitentiary  states  that  there  is  no  definite  system  for 
working  the  convicts,  and  that  he  finds  it  difficult  to  keep  them  employed,  except 
during  the  summer,  when  they  are  worked  in  the  stone  quarry  and  on  the  farm; 
also  that  there  is  no  definite  system  for  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  jails. 

The  board  of  charities  and  correction  of  the  State,  in  its  report  for  the  years 
1897  and  1898,  states: 

"The  penitentiary  farm  and  garden  is  an  important  factor  in  the  support  of 
that  institution  when  managed,  as  is  now  the  case,  by  intelligent  and  practical 
methods,  and  it  is  the  intention  and  policy  of  the  board  to  add  to  the  farm  domain 
and  increase  the  opportunities  for  farm  labor  as  the  wisest  and  best  means  for 
furnishing  useful  and  healthful  employment  to  the  prisoners,  an  employment 
not  only  demanded  for  their  physical  well-being,  but  conducive  to  their  moral 
improvement  and  tending  toward  the  formation  of  industrious  habits  in  a  class 
of  persons  whose  misfortunes  and  crimes  in  many  instances  have  been  due  to 
temptations  which  beset  them  because  of  a  lack  of  useful  employment,  and 
possibly  because  they  were  ignorant  of  all  useful  avocations. 

"The  penitentiary  is  located  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  immense  rock 
deposits,  and  its  chief  industry  is  the  quarrying  and  cutting  of  stone  for  the 
use  of  the  State  in  erecting  its  public  buildings.  A  large  number  of  convicts 
are  constantly  employed  in  this  industry,  and  thus  far  there  has  been  a  demand 
for  all  that  could  be  furnished,  a  large  proportion  of  the  output  for  the  past  3  or 
4  years  having  been  used  in  constructing  the  magnificent  walls  surrounding  the 
penitentiary,  which  was  brought  to  completion  during  the  past  summer,  and  is  said 
to  be  the  finest  and  most  substantial  work  of  the  character  in  the  United  States. 

"The  stone  used  in  the  construction  of  the  girls'  dormitory  at  the  reform  school, 
and  also  in  what  is  known  as  the  boiler  house,  were  furnished  by  the  State  through 
the  agency  of  the  convicts  at  the  penitentiary,  where  the  stone  was  quarried  and 
prepared  for  use." 

The  superintendent  of  the  reform  or  industrial  school  states  that — 

"The  question  of  furnishing  employment  for  the  inmates  during  the  year  is  a 
question  that  is  difficult  to  solve  with  the  means  at  his  command.  During  the 
spring,  summer,  and  early  fall  months  he  is  able  to  find  work  for  all  hands — but 
when  the  work  on  the  farm  and  in  the  garden  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  he  has  several 
conditions  as  well  as  theories  confronting  him.  He  is  not  in  favor  of  placing  the 
industrial  school  in  the  position  of  desiring  to  be  a  competition  of  outside  free 
labor,  but  the  enforced  idleness  of  the  inmates  drives  him  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  is  not  the  part  of  theorists  to  frown  upon  any  and  every  attempt  to  provide 
mechanical  industries  for  those  who  are  being  cared  for  by  the  State." 


116  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

TENNESSEE. 

The  State  maintains  all  its  convicts,  and  works  over  one-third  of  them  in  the 
State  mines  and  on  the  State  farm.  Several  hundred  are  worked  on  the  piece- 
price  system  in  foundry,  hosiery,  and  other  industries.  The  remainder  are  hired 
by  the  day  to  work  in  small  factories  inside  of  the  prison  walls. 

From  the  report  of  prison  commissioners  and  prison  officials  for  the  year  ending 
December  31,  1898,  it  appears  that  the  convicts  at  the  main  prison  were  employed 
as  follows: 

' '  Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  in  the  manuf acture  of  hosiery,  15  manufacturing 
paper  boxes,  110  foundry  labor,  80  chair  and  carriage  manufacture,  80  saddlery 
and  harness,  160  shoe  manufacture,  80  brick  manufacture,  50  on  the  farm  and  gar- 
den, 25  cooking  and  washing,  etc.,  25  mending  and  making  shoes,  clothes,  and 
prison  supplies. 

"  The  product  in  no  one  lino  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  seriously  compete 
with  any  industry  employing  free  labor.  In  none  of  the  lines  in  which  the  pro- 
duction is  the  heaviest  is  there  similar  manufactures  in  this  State  to  a  large  extent. 
The  most  extensive  output  from  the  prison  is  shoes  and  ladies'  and  children's 
hosiery.  These  articles  are  not  those  of  extensive  manufacture  in  this  State. 

"  The  product  of  manufacturing  establishments  in  the  penitentiary  is  not  only 
produced  largely  from  material  obtained  from  Tennessee  and  surrounding  States, 
but  three-fourths  or  more  of  the  output  is  sold  without  the  State,  the  hosiery  in 
the  North,  the  hollow- ware  and  castings,  the  saddles,  harness,  etc.,  in  the  South- 
ern States,  and  the  shoes  and  rattan  chairs,  baby  carriages,  and  brick  are  sold  in 
Tennessee  and  adjoining  Southern  States.  The  goods  produced  by  the  manufac- 
turers operating  with  convict  labor  are  not  of  the  usual  low  grade,  underquality 
produced  in  prisons,  but  are  high  class  of  their  kind,  equal  to  the  product  of  simi- 
lar manufactories  operated  with  free  labor,  and  are  all  sold  at  full  market  rates. 
Most  all  manufacturers  have  striven  for  quality  rather  than  quantity,  so- as  to 
sell  their  goods  at  full  market  prices  of  their  worth  and  merit.  They  have  found 
no  necessity  to  cut  prices  because  their  goods  are  produced  with  convict  labor. 

"  The  crystallization  of  public  opinion  in  favor  of  a  change  in  the  State's  peni- 
tentiary system  found  its  response  in  an  act  known  as  "the  penitentiary  act," 
passed  by  the  forty-ninth  general  assembly,  providing  for  the  abolition  of  the 
lease  system  and  the  erection  of  a  new  main  prison,  and  the  purchase  of  a  farm 
in  connection  therewith,  and  the  purchase  of  coal  lands  and  the  opening  of  a  coal 
mine  thereon,  thus  providing  for  the  care  and  maintenance  of  the  convicts. 

"  The  operations  of  the  mine  have  been  carried  on  with  but  little  interruption. 
The  total  number  of  days  idle  during  the  year,  excluding  Sundays  and  national 
holidays,  was  Hi,  eight  of  which  were  attributable  to  shortage  of  railroad  cars. 
This  result,  in  view  of  the  past  records,  is  particularly  gratifying  and  saliently 
emphasizes  the  splendid  physical  condition  of  the  plant  as  well  as  the  watchful- 
ness of  all  employees.  The  result  of  the  continuous  operation  of  the  mine  is  an 
increase  in  tonnage  of  47,339  tons  over  the  previous  year.  The  total  net  tonnage 
for  the  year  was  271,681. 

"The  excellent  physical  condition  of  the  men,  as  indicated  in  the  decrease 
in  the  average  number  of  men  sick  and  idle,  is  a  potent  argument  of  their 
humane  and  proper  treatment.  The  good  moral,  financial,  and  physical  con- 
dition of  this  branch  of  the  system,  if  we  mistake  not  the  temperament  of  the 
enlightened  people  of  this  great  Commonwealth,  who  through  their  representa- 
tives have  expended  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  dollars  for  the  express 
purpose  of  improving  the  moral  and  financial  condition  of  the  penitentiary  sys- 
tem, should  be  a  source  of  some  satisfaction,  at  least  to  the  lovers  of  the  State. 

"  The  State  has  expended  on  this  branch  of  the  penitentiary  system  a  total  of 
$189,688.24  more  than  it  has  received,  and  has  to  off  set  this  expenditure  a  property 
that  is  worth  at  a  low  estimate,  based  on  its  earning  capacity,  $500,000,  leaving 
an  approximate  profit  to  the  State  of  $310,311.76,  less  the  amount  of  interest 
charges." 

In  most  of  the  more  populous  counties  the  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  are 
employed  in  building  roads  or  in  working  on  the  county  farm.  In  the  other 
counties  no  employment  is  furnished  for  prisoners  of  this  class. 


PRISON    LABOR.  117 

TEXAS. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  are  employed  almost  entirely  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits  and  on  railroads,  either  under  the  contract  or  public  account  sys- 
tem, they  are  also  engaged  in  working  farms  on  the  share-crop  plan,  and  in 
manufacturing  for  sale  on  public  account  and  for  iise  of  the  institutions. 

The  following  quotations  from  the  report  of  the  superintendent  for  the  2  years 
ending  October  31,  1898.  indicate  the  character  and  result  of  the  work  of  the 
convicts: 

"  It  is  an  absolute  requisite  to  bodily  health  and  welfare  that  all  men,  physi- 
cally able,  should  be  employed.  Work  is  necessary  to  the  body  and  mind  alike, 
in  order  to  maintain  mental  equilibrium.  The  inmates  of  the  penitentiaries, 
wherever  physical  condition  will  permit,  are  kept  employed,  this  being  the  best 
remedy  for  disease,  both  of  body  and  of  mind,  work  having  a  great  tendency  to 
improve  the  moral  standard  of  the  man,  besides  helping  him  to  preserve  his  self- 
respect,  which  is  an  important  factor  in  influencing  his  behavior  and  conduct. 

"  The  capabilities  of  the  convict  are  considered  in  assigning  him  to  any  duty, 
and  strict  obedience  and  compliance  with  all  orders  are  in  all  cases  insisted  upon. 

"First-class  convicts  working  under  contract  on  cotton  and  sugar  farms  are 
paid  for  at  the  rate  of  $19.50  per  month,  and  on  cotton  farms  alone  at  the  rate  of 
$18  per  month.  The  second-class  hands  on  cotton  farms  are  paid  for  at  the  rate 
of  $16.50  per  month. 

"  In  considering  the  above  figures,  the  fact  should  be  taken  into  account  that 
the  State  supplies  furniture,  bedding,  clothing,  medical  attention,  provisions, 
transportation,  etc. 

' '  Tobacco  for  prison  consumption  has  been  raised  at  the  Wynne  farm  for  the 
last  6  years.  This  has  been  so  successful  that  last  year  a  tobacco  farm  of 
the  same  class  was  instituted  at  Woodlawn,  near  Rusk  Prison.  The  tobacco 
from  Woodlawn  is  shipped  to  Huntsville,  being  manufactured  at  this  point,  and 
the  amount  of  tobacco  produced  on  theso  farms  forms  a  large  proportion  of  the 
total  quantity  consumed  in  the  penitentiary  system.  Habana  or  cigar  tobacco 
is  also  cultivated  for  sale. 

"The  State  farm  at  Harlem  consists  of  2,788  acres  of  fertile  land,  of  whi^h 
there  are  about  2,200  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  This  farm  has  proved  a 
financial  success,  as  demonstrated  by  the  financial  receipts,  besides  showing  the 
wisdom  of  the  policy  of  employment  of  all  short-termed  convicts  on  State  account. 

"The  class  of  labor  used  on  this  farm  are  second-class  convicts,  who  are  not 
suitable  for  contract  forces  where  first-class  labor  is  required.  The  average 
number  of  convicts  on  this  farm  for  the  two  years  just  ended  was  171. 

"  It  will  be  noticed  in  the  various  inventories  of  prisons  and  farms,  that  we 
are  raising  a  large  number  of  hogs,  which  reduce  expense  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  reference  to  meat  supply,  etc. 

"My  policy,  from  the  beginning  of  my  connection  with  this  department,  has 
been  to  manufacture  and  raise  on  farms  everything  possible  that  is  necessary  for 
the  maintenance  of  convicts. 

"  The  net  receipts  from  the  railroads  working  convicts  under  contracts  for  the 
last  two  years  are  $84,486.59,  as  against  $81,018  shown  in  my  last  report.  The 
net  earnings  for  the  last  two  years  per  capita  per  month  being  $9.47,  as  against 
$7.12  for  the  two  years  ending  October  31,  1896. 

' '  The  plan  of  hiring  out  short-term  convicts  was  adopted  many  years  ago,  and  has 
been  kept  up,  not  from  choice,  but  for  the  reason  that  the  two  penitentiaries 
(Huntsville  and  Rusk)  do  not  afford  room  for  the  employment  of  more  than  one- 
half  of  our  prison  population.  Consequently,  this  system,  of  necessity,  was 
adopted,  and  has  been  continued,  rather  than  support  this  large  number  of  men 
in  idleness." 

UTAH. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  State  board  of  corrections  for  the  year  1898,  the 
convicts  at  the  State  prison  were  engaged  in  making  repairs  and  additions  to  the 
buildings  and  in  caring  for  the  same,  also  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  in  manu- 
facturing articles  for  consumption  at  the  institution,  or  for  sale  on  State  account. 
The  following  quotations  from  the  report  of  the  warden  indicate  the  character  of 
the  industrial  enterprises  conducted  at  the  prison: 

"  In  accordance  with  your  instructions,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  city  coun- 
cil, a  reservoir  has  been  built  of  concrete,  with  a  capacity  of  about  80,000  gallons. 


118  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

The  total  cost  of  the  water  system  was  $7,676.84  for  material;  all  work  done  by 
prisoners. 

"  The  new  addition  authorized  by  the  board  has  been  completed,  giving  us  a 
room  for  manufacturing  which  will  accommodate  75  men.  The  cost  of  this  new 
addition  was  $1,105.58;  work  done  by  convicts.  Fifteen  knitting  machines,  1 
finishing  machine,  2  ribbon  machines,  1  spooler,  and  1  wire  mattress  machine  have 
been  placed  in  the  factory  at  cost  of  $1,165.41. 

"  I  have  had  to  make  haste  slowly  in  manufacturing  for  the  following  reasons: 
(1)  The  prisoners  must  learn  to  run  the  machines.  (2)  We  must  make  goods 
that  this  market  demands;  then  we  must  not  interfere  with  home  industry. 

"  I  have  manufactured  and  sold  during  the  past  year  cotton  socks  to  the  value 
of  $1,714.81;  hair  cinchas,  $559.82;  clothing  and  shoes  for  the  State  insane  asylum, 
$1,701.54. 

"  I  would  advise  increasing  the  number  of  knitting  machines  until  the  prison 
can  furnish  all  the  cotton  socks  this  market  demands,  and  which  are  now  shipped 
here  from  the  East.  The  canvas  hammocks  which  were  in  all  the  cells,  and  which 
were  expensive  and  uncomfortable,  have  been  replaced  with  iron  frame  spring 
cots  at  a  cost  of  $244.55  for  material.  The  180  cots  cost  only  for  material,  all 
work  being  done  in  prison  shops. 

"The  farm  has  produced  during  the  past  two  years  389  bushels  of  oats,  600 
bushels  of  parsnips,  4,150  bushels  of  potatoes,  115  bushels  of  turnips,  1,375  bushels 
of  carrots,  550  bushels  of  beets,  45  bushels  of  onions,  425  tons  of  hay,  and  quanti- 
ties of  melons,  squash,  tomatoes,  peas,  beans,  lettuce,  and  strawberries.  Much 
more  could  be  raised  on  the  farm  if  we  possessed  an  adequate  irrigating  water 
supply. 

"  During  the  past  two  years,  with  the  work  on  reservoir,  pipe  line,  new  build- 
ing, workshop,  and  farm,  every  prisoner  capable  of  working  has  been  employed. 
Now,  with  this  extra  work  finished,  and  not  having  work  for  all  the  prisoners  in 
the  manufacturing  department,  I  have  placed  the  men  not  otherwise  employed  at 
breaking  rock.  This  work  can  only  be  done  in  moderate  weather,  as  we  have  no 
sheds  for  the  protection  of  the  men." 

VERMONT. 

The  convicts  in  the  State  prison  are  worked  under  the  contract  system  in  the 
manufacture  of  shoes.  The  contract  is  made  for  5  years,  and  the  State  receives 
72  cents  per  day  for  each  able-bodied  convict.  The  convicts  work  from  sunrise  to 
sunset.  The  directors,  in  commenting  on  the  work  of  the  prison  during  1897-98, 
state  that — 

"  The  income  of  the  prison  has  been  $3,922.94  over  and  above  all  expenses  of  the 
institution  during  the  biennial  period  preceding  the  date  of  this  report.  The  total 
receipts  for  convict  labor  were  $53,932.68. 

"  By  reason  of  the  favorable  contract  for  the  prison  labor — 72  cents  per  pay  per 
man — and  the  large  daily  average  of  prisoners  employed  by  the  contractors  (all  the 
able-bodied  men  except  the  few  reserved  by  the  State  for  other  work),  the  insti- 
tution has  been  self-sustaining,  notwithstanding  many  demands  for  extraordinary 
expenditures." 

The  prisoners  at  the  house  of  correction  are  largely  employed  under  the  State- 
account  system  in  cutting  and  polishing  marble;  the  product  is  sold  in  the  open 
market.  The  directors  in  their  report  for  1897-98  give  the  following  information 
in  regard  to  the  work  of  the  prisoners: 

"  In  a  large  number  of  States  and  Territories  no  attempt  is  made  to  provide  shop 
or  indoor  labor  in  the  prisons  for  those  sentenced  to  short  terms  of  confinement. 
Especially  is  this  true  at  the  South,  the  Southern  States  working  their  short-time 
prisoners  to  a  large  extent  outside  the  prison  walls.  We  have  worked  quite  a 
number  of  prisoners  at  the  house  of  correction  outside  of  the  shop  in  connection 
with  repairs,  and  also  to  cultivate  the  land,  which  labor  has  produced  for  the  State 
as  good,  if  not  better,  results  than  would  have  been  attained  had  all  found  employ- 
ment in  the  regular  way.  The  earnings  of  the  prisoners  in  the  shops  have  been 
increased  from  an  average  of  46  cents  a  day,  as  per  our  last  report,  to  53  cents  a 
day  for  the  last  biennial  period.  The  favorable  showing  made  is  a  credit  to  the 
manager.  The  board  of  directors,  who  are  conducting  the  work  on  State  account, 
find  this  to  be  a  better  result  for  the  State  than  has  previously  been  shown.  If  it 


LABO&.  119 

were  not  for  so  many  short-term  commitments  a  still  better  showing  could  be 
made." 

The  inmates  of  the  State  reform  school  are  engaged  principally  in  seating  chairs^ 
No  employment  is  given  to  prisoners  in  county  jails 

VIRGINIA. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  Penitentiary  are  employed  under  the  contract  system 
within  the  prison  walls.  Up  to  October  20,  1897,  a  number  of  them  were  worked 
by  a  company  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  tobacco  and  the  remainder  by  a 
company  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes.  A  number  of  them  are 
also  employed  on  the  State  farm,  engaged  in  various  agricultural  pursuits,  raising 
vegetables  and  supplies  for  the  use  of  the  institution. 

The  superintendent  in  his  annual  report  for  1898  states  that — 

"  The  net  profits  at  the  penitentiary  and  at  the  farm  were  $57,127.28 — a  gain  of 
§2,942.99  over  the  previous  year.  There  were  1,275  prisoners  within  the  walls  of 
the  prison.  Of  these,  1,011  men  and  65  women  are  employed  by  the  shoe  company. 
One  hundred  and  seventy-five  are  necessary  for  prison  detail. 

' '  The  tasks  of  those  employed  on  the  contract  are  not  excessive,  which  is  evinced 
by  the  fact  that  $20,231.86  have  been  earned  by  the  prisoners  by  overwork.  The 
State  farm  continues  to  serve  a  good  purpose,  for  which  the  legislature  intended 
it.  It  has  been  a  great  aid  to  the  penitentiary  the  past  year  in  receiving  and 
caring  for  many  of  those  broken  down  from  confinement,  and  from  the  ravages  of 
an  epidemic  of  measles  last  spring.  It  has  not  only  supported  an  average  of  324 
men,  but  shows  a  net  gain  to  the  State  of  $2,057.27." 

WASHINGTON. 

Ordinarily  about  255  of  the  convicts  of  the  State  penitentiary  are  employed  in 
a  jute  mill,  manufacturing  grain  bags,  burlap,  and  other  jute  fabrics.  During 
the  summer  and  fall  about  50  are  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  brick.  These 
industries  are  conducted  under  the  public-account  system.  The  remainder  of  the 
convicts  are  daily  employed  in  the  various  workshops,  on  the  farm,  and  around 
the  prison  generally. 

The  manufacture  of  jute  goods  and  bricks  are  the  principal  industries  conducted 
at  the  prison,  and  the  following  information  concerning  the  operations  during  the 
2  years  ending  September  30,  1898,  is  obtained  from  the  State  board  of  audit  and 
control: 

"The  jute  mill  has  been  operated  continuously  since  April  1,  1897,  except  a 
short  time  when  it  was  closed  down  for  necessary  repairs.  All  of  the  products 
manufactured  have  been  readily  disposed  of,  there  being  on  hand  September  30, 
1898,  only  130,000  grain  bags,  while  2  years  ago  the  biennial  report  printed  at  that 
time  shows  the  number  of  grain  bags  on  hand  to  have  been  1 ,190,000.  On  account 
of  the  decrease  in  the  prison  population  during  the  last  2  years  it  has  been  impos- 
sible to  run  the  mill  to  its  full  capacity.  During  the  season  just  ended  there  has 
been  an  average  of  about  112  convicts  employed.  Under  these  circumstances  we 
consider  the  output  for  the  year  1898  to  be  exceptionally  good.  The  total  profit 
for  the  mill  for  the  2  years  was  $11,202.82. 

' '  Work  has  been  commenced  in  the  brickyard  as  early  each  season  as  the  weather 
would  permit.  We  have  manufactured  during  the  fiscal  years  1897  and  1898 
2,656,000  brick.  There  has  been  a  steady  sale  for  brick,  and  the  demand  has  been 
so  great  that  it  has  been  impossible  for  us  to  manufacture  enough  to  supply  it. 
The  brick  manufactured  is  of  uniform  size,  good  red  color,  and  splendid  quality. 
Brick  masons  commend  them  as  giving  good  satisfaction." 

Ordinarily  the  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  have  no  employment  other  than 
keeping  the  jail  -in  a  cleanly  and  sanitary  condition.  In  a  few  cases  they  are 
worked  on  the  roads  and  streets. 

The  inmates  of  the  State  reform  school  are  employed  in  manufacturing  shoes, 
and  tailoring  for  the  benefit  of  the  inmates;  also  in  general  work  incident  to  the 
care  of  the  building.  They  also  made  during  the  year  148  pairs  of  slippers  for 
the  use  of  the  Soldiers'  Home. 


120  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

WEST  VIRGINIA. 

Convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  are  worked  inside  the  prison  walls  under  the 
contract  system,  in  the  manufacture  of  brooms,  nets,  whips,  trousers,  shirts,  etc. 
Those  not  employed  under  contract  are  engaged  in  the  general  work  of  the  insti- 
tution and  in  the  manufacture  of  brick  for  the  State  use. 

While  the  law  provides  for  the  working  of  the  prisoners  in  county  jails  on 
the  roads  and  highways,  it  is  not  enforced,  and,  as  a  rule,  they  are  given  no 
imployment. 

WISCONSIN. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  shoes  under 
the  contract  system;  in  the  manufacture  of  knit  goods  under  the  piece-price 
system;  and  in  the  manufacture  of  clothing  for  the  use  of  inmates  of  the  prison 
and  for  other  institutions. 

In  regard  to  the  tailor  shop  the  warden,  in  his  report  for  1889,  states: 

' '  During  the  last  year  we  have  manufactured  clothing  in  large  quantities  for 
other  State  institutions,  which  accounts  for  the  increase  in  cash  receipts  of  last 
year  over  the  year  previous.  The  prisoners'  clothing,  including  going-out  suits 
and  overcoats,  are  also  manufactured  here.  The  net  earnings  of  prisoners 
employed  in  tailor  shops  were  57  cents  per  day  for  the  two  years." 

The  inmates  of  the  Milwaukee  house  of  correction  are  employed  principally  in 
the  manufacture  of  chairs  under  the  State-account  system.  The  report  of  the 
institution  for  the  year  1898  shows  that  the  chair  factory  yielded  a  profit  of 
$1,248.41;  179,123  chairs  of  the  value  of  $48,642.34  were  manufactured  during  the 
year,  while  175,381  chairs  valued  at  $47,679.89  were  sold.  The  inspector  states 
that— 

"The  chair  factory  yielded  a  gain  of  $1,248.41,  a  rather  ungratifying  result; 
but  we  are  hampered  on  all  sides;  our  laborers  are  unskilled;  our  machinery  is 
mostly  old  and  of  an  unimproved  pattern,  so  that  the  variety  of  our  output  of 
chairs  is  rather  limited.  Prices  of  lumber,  oils  and  paints,  and  materials  of  all 
sorts  have  been  steadily  advancing,  while  the  prices  of  chairs  have  not.  We 
have  been  trying  to  raise  the  price,  but  since  other  chair  manufacturers  did  not 
follow  the  same  example  we  were  not  successful. 

"  It  has  been  charged  that  we  are  selling  oxir  chairs  cheaper  than  competitors, 
but  this  is  a  grave  mistake.  The  fact  is  that  many  prospective  customers  who 
came  here  to  look  over  our  line  of  chairs,  after  hearing  prices,  declared  they  could 
do  better  elsewhere  and  refused  to  buy." 

The  inmates  of  the  industrial  school  for  boys  are  engaged  in  a  variety  of  indus- 
tries, but  the  products  are  consumed  almost  entirely  in  the  institution.  The  boys 
make  their  own  clothing,  shoes,  and  socks,  run  their  own  laundry,  do  the  general 
repair  work  for  the  school,  and  furnish  all  the  labor  for  the  farm  and  garden. 
Some  boys  learn  trades,  but  the  prevailing  notion  that  all  boys,  or  that  any  con- 
siderable number,  can  learn  trades  here  that  they  can  follow  through  life  is 
incorrect. 

The  prisoners  in  county  jails  have  no  regular  system  of  employment.  In  some 
counties,  however,  they  are  employed  in  breaking  stone  in  the  jail  yards 

WYOMING. 

A  contract  exists  by  which  all  of  the  convicts  are  maintained  in  the  State 
penitentiary  buildings  at  a  stated  price  per  day  per  convict,  and  the  lessee  has  in 
addition  the  labor  of  the  convicts.  He  employs  them  in  manufacturing  brooms 
and  cigars,  also  in  farming  and  in  making  clothes  and  shoes  for  their  own  use. 
Their  employment  is  at  the  option  of  the  contractor. 

There  is  no  system  for  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  county  jails.  In  some 
instances  they  do  janitor  work  about  the  court-house  and  jail. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  CHANGES  IN  SYSTEMS  OF  EMPLOYMENT. 

In  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  systems  under  which  the  prisoners  are  employed 
in  the  different  State,  county,  and  municipal  penal  and  reformatory  institutions 
are  satisfactory,  and  also  to  obtain  suggestions  for  changes  or  improvements  in  the 
laws  regulating  such  employment,  the  commission  addressed  a  circular  letter  to 
the  officials  of  a  number  of  such  institutions  in  each  State.  This  letter  called  for 
answers  to  the  following  questions: 

First.  If  the  system  and  laws  under  which  convicts  are  employed  in  your  State 
are  not  satisfactory,  what  changes  do  you  suggest? 

Second.  What  system  of  employing  convicts  do  you  consider  to  be  of  the  great- 
est advantage,  morally  and  physically,  to  convicts  and  the  least  injurious  to  the 
interests  of  free  labor? 

Third.  If  you  consider  that  convict  labor  as  now  conducted  competes  with  free 
labor,  please  give  any  facts  that  may  be  in  your  possession  relative  to  the  reduc- 
tion in  the  number  of  wage- workers,  reduction  of  wages,  or  the  reduction  in  prices 
of  manufactured  articles  by  reason  of  such  labor. 

These  circulars  were  sent  to  prison  wardens,  superintendents  and  commissioners, 
and  to  other  persons,  who,  by  actual  association  with  the  prisoners  and  practical 
experience  in  their  employment,  are  supposed  to  be  competent  to  give  opinions 
that  are  worthy  of  serious  consideration.  The  replies  for  each  State  are  summar- 
ized as  follows: 

ALABAMA. 

At  the  State  penitentiary  the  system  of  employment  is  satisfactory,  and  no 
material  change  in  the  laws  is  recommended.  The  employment  of  convicts  on 
farms  and  in  sawmills  is  the  least  injurious  to  all  interests  involved.  Convicts 
worked  in  the  mine  appear  to  compete  with  free  labor,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  is 
beneficial  to  free  labor,  as  it  prevents  strikes,  keeps  the  free  miners  employed  and 
insures  the  running  of  the  industries  of  the  State  that  use  coal,  and  the  employ- 
ment of  the  labor  connected  with  them  without  cessation,  insures  the  running  of 
railroads  at  all  times  and  the  transportation  of  all  pro'ducts.  Hence,  the  employ- 
ment of  convicts  in  the  coal  mines  is  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  the  free  labor  of 
the  State 

ARIZONA. 

The  system  of  employing  convicts  in  use  at  the  penitentiary  is  not  satisfactory. 
The  institution  should  be  made  self-sustaining.  The  legislature  has  not  dared  to 
devise  any  plan  whereby  convict  labor  can  be  made  remunerative.  As  all  classes 
of  material  for  manufacture  would  have  to  be  shipped  into  Arizona  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  the  cost  of  manufacturing  many  articles  would  be  a  bar  to  competi- 
tion of  any  kind. 

ARKANSAS. 

The  contract  system  of  employing  convicts,  as  now  operated  at  the  penitentiary, 
gives  better  satisfaction  than  the  lease  system  formerly  in  use.  The  employment 
of  convicts  in  farming  would  result  in  the  greatest  advantage  to  the  prisoner  and 

121 


122  UNITED  STATES  INDUSTRIAL  COMMISSION. 

be  the  least  injurious  to  free  labor.  Convicts  should  be  made  self-sustaining  and 
the  charge  of  competition  with  free  labor  is  a  myth.  It  is  cruelty  to  keep  the 
convicts  in  idleness,  and  an  outrage  to  tax  the  honest  masses  to  support  them. 

CALIFORNIA. 

The  system  of  employment  in  vogue  at  the  State  prison  at  San  Quentin  is  satis- 
factory. •  The  convicts  are  engaged  principally  in  the  State  jute  mill,  and  other 
industries  that  do  not  compete  with  free  labor  ought  to  be  carried  on  in  order  to 
teach  the  inmates  some  trade  that  will  be  of  benefit  to  them  when  they  have  served 
their  time  in  prison .  The  trouble  with  the  j  ute  workers  is ,  there  is  no  demand  in  this 
part  of  the  country  for  such  labor  outside  of  the  jute  mills,  as  there  is  but  one 
other  jute  or  cotton  mill  in  the  State  and  it  employs  women  and  children.  There 
are  plenty  of  industries  that  can  be  carried  on  that  will  not,  to  any  extent,  com- 
pete with  free  labor,  such  as  the  manufacture  of  clothing,  shoes  and  various 
other  articles  used  in  the  other  State  institutions.  That  system  of  employment 
which  occupies  the  mind  and  inculcates  the  idea  that  permanent  employment  will 
be  obtained  from  the  knowledge  so  derived  is  the  most  desirable.  Our  present 
industry  does  not  conflict  with  free  labor,  does  not  cause  a  reduction  of  wages  or 
of  prices  of  manufactured  articles. 

COLORADO. 

The  system  of  employment  in  use  in  the  penitentiary  is  not  considered  satisfac- 
tory, because  it  is  not  remunerative;  and  it  is  suggested  that  the  convicts  be  put 
to  work  either  on  the  State  piece-price  plan,  or  contracted  to  some  one  to  be 
employed  at  any  work  that  conflicts  least  with  outside  or  free  labor.  The  manu- 
facture of  hollow  ware  is  suggested  as  a  good  industry  on  which  they  could  be 
employed,  because  there  is  no  establishment  west  of  the  Missouri  River  engaged 
in  manufacturing  that  class  of  goods.  The  laws  as  they  now  stand  are  consid- 
ered satisfactory,  because  the  warden  has  the  right  to  work  the  convicts  at  any 
class  of  employment  on  the  prison  grounds.  They  can  not  be  leased  to  work  on 
grounds  other  than  those  belonging  to  the  State.  It  is  not  considered  that  con- 
vict labor,  as  now  contracted,  competes  with  free  labor.  It  is  believed  that  every 
dollar  that  the  convict  earns  goes  toward  relieving  the  laboring  man  from  taxa- 
tion. The  laboring  man  is  the  greatest  taxpayer,  even  if  he  does  not  own  a 
dollar's  worth  of  property. 

The  superintendent  of  the  State  industrial  school  states  that  the  inmates  should 
be  allowed  to  make  shoes,  clothing,  and  other  articles  for  the  use  of  other  State 
institutions. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Prisoners  are  worked  under  the  contract  and  piece-price  systems.  These  methods 
are  satisfactory.  The  board  of  directors  and  warden  contract  for  the  labor  with 
reformatory  methods  always  in  view.  That  system  of  labor  which  will  best  equip 
the  convicts  to  earn  an  honest  living  after  being  discharged  or  paroled,  regardless 
of  any  competition,  is  the  most  desirable  and  most  advantageous.  The  warden 
of  the  State  prison  states  that  there  is  doubtless  some  competition  with  free  labor, 
but  he  has  never  known  contractors  of  prison-made  goods  to  undersell  articles 
manufactured  by  free  labor. 

DELAWARE. 

No  employment  is  furnished  for  prisoners  in  the  penitentiary  or  county  jails. 
The  superintendent  of  the  State  reform  school  recommends  the  introduction  of 
more  work  on  State  farms. 


PRISON    LABOR.  123 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

Prisoners  at  the  workhouse  are  worked  on  the  ptiblic  roads  and  in  the  public 
parks.  It  would  be  beneficial  to  the  prisoner  and  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
District  if  those  sentenced  to  serve  time  in  the  jail  were  employed  in  the  same 
way  that  the  workhouse  prisoners  are.  The  present  system  is  satisfactory.  Road 
work  is  the  ideal  work  for  prisoners.  Prison  work,  as  conducted  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  does  not  compete  with  free  labor. 

FLORIDA. 

The  financial  condition  of  Florida  is  such  that  the  lease  system  of  employing 
convicts  is  the  best  method  possible  under  the  circumstances.  The  system  has 
recently  been  investigated  by  a  special  committee  of  the  legislature,  which  has 
recommended  some  important  changes.  The  commissioner  of  agriculture,  who 
is  charged  with  the  supervision  of  convict  labor,  states: 

"  I  do  not  think  that  convict  labor,  as  now  employed,  competes  with  free  labor 
in  Florida;  in  fact,  contractors  inform  me  that  the  only  difference  in  cost  between 
free  labor  and  convict  labor  is  that  you  are  always  certain  of  the  labor.  State 
convicts  in  Florida  are  worked  in  phosphate  mines  and  in  the  manufacture  of 
naval  stores,  and  in  each  of  these  industries  the  contractors  are  short  of  labor 
and  gladly  give  employment  to  free  labor;  in  fact,  we  need  men  that  will  labor,  and 
no  laborer  suffers  by  reason  of  the  employment  of  convicts  in  this  State.  I  have 
always  been  opposed  to  the  lease  system,  but  it  seems  that  it  is  the  best  to  be  done 
in  Florida  at  this  time.  A  great  many  abuses  occur  under  this  system." 

GEORGIA. 

Convicts  are  employed  under  the  contract  system  and  also  on  the  State  farm 
and  on  the  public  roads.  The  warden  of  the  State  prison  states  that  "the 
present  system  is,  perhaps,  as  good  as  any,  morally,  and  as  little  hurtful  to  free 
labor,  and  is  far  superior  to  many  others  from  a  physical  standpoint,  for  the 
reason  that  it  furnishes  outdoor  exercise,  with  plenty  of  pure  air." 

IDAHO. 

The  convicts  at  the  State  prison  are  employed  now  in  the  erection  of  new  State 
buildings  and  on  the  prison  farm.  The  warden  states  that  this  work  will  be  suf- 
ficient to  keep  all  the  convicts  employed  for  4  or  5  years,  and  that  the  best  system 
of  employment  is  to  utilize  the  prisoners  in  the  erection  of  good  substantial 
prisons  and  other  necessary  buildings  and  to  put  the  prison  grounds  in  the  highest 
state  of  cultivation;  also  to  have  a  good-sized  farm  connected  therewith,  and 
employ  as  many  of  the  convicts  as  possible  in  making  needed  improvements  and 
in  raising  produce  for  prison  consumption.  The  prison  labor  has  not  come  in 
conflict  with  free  labor,  and  it  will  not  for  several  years,  because  it  will  be 
utilized  in  the  improvement  of  the  prisons. 

ILLINOIS. 

The  public-account  system  under  which  most  of  the  convicts  are  employed  is 
in  a  measure  satisfactory.  It  comes  as  near  giving  entire  satisfaction  as  any 
system  that  is  liable  to  be  adopted.  Working  on  the  public  roads  is  a  desirable 
method  for  the  employment  of  convicts.  The  competition  with  free  labor  is  but 
slight,  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  agitators  on  the  outside  convict  labor  would  be 
of  little  consequence  in  the  competition  with  free  labor. 

INDIANA. 

The  contract  system  in  use  at  the  State  penitentiary  and  reformatory  is  referred 
to  as  giving  more  general  satisfaction  than  heretofore,  with  the  exception  that  at 
the  reformatory  more  attention  shoiild  be  given  to  teaching  trades.  If  the  New 


124  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

York  system  proves  satisfactory  it  would  be  recommended  for  adoption  in  this 
State.    It  is  also  suggested  that  trade  schools  be  established  in  all  penal  institu 
tions.  provided  the  matter  of  cost  is  not  to  be  considered.    If  the  expense  of  main- 
tenance is  to  be  considered  it  is  thought  that  the  contract  system  as  now  in 
operation  is  the  best.    The  convict  labor  at  the  State  prison,  as  now  conducted, 
does  not  compete  with  free  labor  to  any  noticeable  degree. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  State  Charities  states: 

"  Probably  few  of  those  who  speak  much  upon  the  competition  of  convict  labor 
with  free  labor  have  visited  prisons,  particularly  prisons  in  which  a  large  part  of 
the  population  is  unemployed,  and  realized  the  conditions  there  existing.  They 
fail  to  recall  that  these  inmates  were  to  perhaps  as  great  an  extent  competing 
laborers  on  the  outside,  and  that  having  entered  the  prison  it  is  necessary  that 
they  be  fed  and  clothed  and  cared  for;  that  where  they  have  no  work,  but  are 
kept  locked  in  their  cells,  their  condition,  both  of  mind  and  body,  is  pitiable  in 
the  extreme,  leading  on  one  side  to  evil  practices,  faded  complexions  and  declin- 
ing health,  and  on  the  other  weakening  and  lost  minds. 

"  In  this  State  attention  was  called  to  the  condition  of  things  that  existed  in 
the  State  prison  of  Indiana  for  the  past  year.  There  a  large  per  cent  of  the  in- 
mates were  without  employment.  They  were  asking  for  something  to  do;  many 
were  losing  health;  the  number  of  insane  therein  was  increasing;  the  attention  of 
the  press  and  the  people  of  the  State  was  drawn  to  their  conditions.  The  feder- 
ation of  labor  took  it  up  and  appointed  a  committee  to  consider  what  could  be 
done.  This  committee,  with  the  State  labor  commission  and  the  board  of  prison 
managers,  recognizing  that  some  action  must  be  taken  to  provide  those  convicts 
with  work,  agreed  upon  the  present  law,  which  was  almost  unanimously  passed 
by  our  last  legislature." 

The  work  of  the  inmates  of  the  women's  prison  is  confined  to  domestic  duties 
and  education  in  such  duties.  It  does  not  compete  with  free  labor. 

Prisoners  in  workhouses  and  jails  should  be  provided  with  more  constant  em- 
ployment, especially  on  such  work  as  would  assist  in  their  maintenance,  and  also 
in  the  manufacture  of  goods  for  the  use  of  other  institutions.  The  products 
should  not  be  sold  on  the  open  market. 

IOWA. 

The  contract  system,  as  it  is  used  in  the  penitentiary  at  Fort  Madison,  is 
referred  to  as  giving  general  satisfaction.  The  number  of  hours  that  the  con- 
victs are  worked  per  day  should  be  fixed,  possibly,  at  8;  it  is  now.  by  the  custom 
of  the  contractors,  10  hours — there  is  no  law  on  the  subject.  The  labor  in  the 
prison  undoubtedly  competes  with  free  labor,  but  not  in  the  same  ratio  as  skilled 
free  labor,  inasmuch  as  contractors  suffer  more  or  less  loss  from  learning  inexpe- 
rienced hands,  and  from  willful  destruction  of  material:  still,  convicts  with  expe- 
rience become  adept  the  same  as  other  men. 

The  method  of  employing  convicts  at  the  Animosa  penitentiary  in  the  erection 
of  new  penitentiary  buildings  and  the  manufacture  of  supplies  for  the  State,  has 
proved  satisfactory.  The  New  York  plan  of  employing  convicts  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  supplies  for  the  use  of  institutions  is  preferred.  The  manufacture  of 
binding  twine  under  the  State  account  system  would  lead  to  the  least  competi- 
tion with  free  labor  in  this  section. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  work  of  the  inmates  in  the  State  industrial  schools  lie 
extended  along  industrial  lines  where  the  inmates  can  acquire  the  knowledge 
that  will  fit  them  to  compete  successfully  when  they  leave  the  institution. 

Work  should  be  provided  for  prisoners  in  the  county  jails,  and  it  is  suggested 
that  in  counties  containing  cities  of  the  first  class  there  should  be  a  workhouse 
established,  wherein  all  men  under  sentence  ranging  from  3  days  to  1  year 
should  be  confined  and  compelled  to  work.  Other  counties  might  work  their 
convicts  on  the  streets  and  roads.  There  is  no  question  but  what  convict  labor 
will  be  detrimental  to  free  labor  to  a  certain  extent  as  long  as  it  is  in  use,  but  as 


PRISON    LABOR.  125 

it  enables  the  State  to  make  its  prisons  self -supporting  institutions,  or  nearly  so, 
and  as  the  prisoners  there  confined  are  human  beings,  it  is  no  more  than  neces- 
sary that  they  should  have  employment,  as  idleness  would  tend  to  make  a  colony 
of  insane  people,  which  would  be  a  greater  detriment  to  all  concerned  than  con- 
tract labor. 

KANSAS. 

The  employment  of  convicts  in  mining  coal  for  use  of  State  institutions  has 
given  satisfactory  results.  The  mining  for  sale  on  the  open  market  has  not 
been  so  satisfactory.  The  coal  should  not  be  sold,  not  only  because  it  competes 
with  free  labor,  but  because  the  capacity  of  the  mine  is  limited  and  the  institu- 
tions should  be  regularly  supplied.  The  employment  of  convict  labor  by  any 
party  or  parties  for  private  gain  is  wholly  wrong.  The  labor  should  be  used  in 
preparing  material  for  the  erection  of  public  buildings,  and  in  manufacturing  for 
various  educational  and  charitable  institutions. 

KENTUCKY. 

It  is  believed  that  the  contract  system  in  use  at  the  penitentiary  is  giving 
general  satisfaction,  and  the  board  of  prison  directors  make  no  suggestions  for 
changes.  They  state,  however,  that  while  perhaps  not  so  remunerative  the  sys- 
tem of  the  State  working  her  own  convicts  on  her  own  account  where  no  others 
are  interested  in  the  labor,  or  product  of  the  labor,  it  is  certainly  the  best  system 
for  the  convicts.  Everything  manufactured  in  a  penal  institution  v/ill,  to  some 
extent,  come  in  contact  with  free  labor,  and  will  to  that  extent  injure  the  sale  of 
such  articles  manufactured. 

LOUISIANA. 

The  lease  system  is  giving  satisfaction  from  a  financial  standpoint.  Convicts 
should,  however,  be  worked  within  the  prison  walls  in  manufacturing  industries, 
and  the  products  should  be  stamped  with  the  stamp  of  the  institution  before  they 
are  offered  for  sale  on  the  market.  Jail  convicts  should  only  be  employed  in  such 
menial  labor  as  does  not  compete  with  honest  labor,  such  as  working  on  the 
roads  and  streets.  Convict  labor  in  this  State  does  compete  with  free  labor 
to  some  extent,  as  the  convicts  are  hired  out  to  levee  contractors  at  a  nominal 
figure  per  capita.  Thus  a  large  number  of  free  laborers  are  deprived  of  work. 

MAINE. 

Convicts  are  now  employed  under  the  public  account,  piece  price,  and  lease  sys- 
tems, also  in  producing  agricultural  products  for  the  use  of  the  institutions.  No 
material  change  is  recommended.  Extended  facilities  should  be  furnished  for 
agricultural  work,  and  it  is  also  urged  that  workshops  be  established  in  more  of 
the  county  jails. 

MARYLAND. 

Convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  are  worked  under  the  contract  system,  which 
appears  to  be  giving  satisfaction  from  both  an  industrial  and  financial  stand- 
point, at  least  in  so  far  as  the  prison  authorities  are  concerned.  The  superintend- 
ent of  the  house  of  refuge  states  that  sufficient  appropriation  should  be  made 
for  the  reform  schools  to  enable  them  to  dispense  with  contract  work;  and  also 
that  the  piece-price  plan  is  a  good  method  for  employing  the  inmates. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  system  of  employing  the  convicts  under  the  public-account  system  princi- 
pally, also  in  manufacturing  for  the  State  and  under  the  piece-price  plan,  have 
proven  generally  satisfactory.  The  general  superintendent  of  prisons  states  that 


126  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

the  only  change  he  would  suggest  is  that  the  opportunities  for  employing  con- 
victs on  public  works  should  be  enlarged.  In  his  opinion,  that  system  which  best 
promotes  habits  of  attention  and  industry  is  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  convicts, 
and  the  conditions  that  are  beneficial  to  the  prisoner  do  not  depend  so  much  on 
the  system  itself  as  on  the  administration  of  it.  The  system  of  making  goods  for 
institutions  and  employing  prisoners  on  other  public  work  is  the  least  injurious 
to  the  interests  of  free  labor.  As  to  a  reduction  in  the  price  of  manufactured 
articles  in  consequence  of  convict  labor,  he  states  that  every  effort  is  made  in 
this  State  to  avoid  that  result.  The  State  statutes  expressly  provided  that  prison- 
made  goods  should  not  be  sold  below  the  market  price;  and  constant  effort  is 
made  to  observe,  as  strictly  as  possible,  this  provision  of  the  law. 

The  officers  in  charge  of  some  of  the  large  penal  institutions  in  the  State  make 
various  recommendations  as  follows: 

The  system  is  not  satisfactory;  should  return  to  the  contract  system,  and  engage 
in  manufacturing  a  cheap  grade  of  shoes  that  would  not  compete  with  free  labor. 

The  system  is  in  the  main  satisfactory.  The  limit  as  to  the  number  of  convicts 
that  can  be  employed  in  a  given  industry  should  be  removed.  Convicts  should 
be  employed  in  reclaiming  wilds  of  land,  building  roads,  etc.  The  land  when 
brought  into  proper  condition  could  be  sold  to  small  farmers.  Prison  labor  is  not, 
as  a  rule,  profitable  in  a  pecuniary  sense,  and  rarely  pays  back  the  invested  capi- 
tal. There  is  but  slight  competition  with  free  labor. 

The  system  is  satisfactory,  but  the  number  to  be  employed  on  any  given  industry 
should  be  increased.  The  public  account  is  the  best  system.  Convict  work  does 
not  interfere  with  free  labor. 

MICHIGAN. 

The  president  of  the  joint  boards  of  control  of  the  prisons  states  that  the  com- 
bination of  the  public  account  and  contract  systems,  now  existing  in  the  prisons  of 
the  State  is  more  satisfactory  than  either  one  exclusively.  To  say  that  any  system 
is  satisfactory  to  all  would  be  saying  too  much,  but  the  present  system  is  satisfac- 
tory to  the  most,  and  is  believed  by  those  best  able  from  their  positions  to  judge, 
to  be  the  most  rational,  and  it  produces  the  best  results. 

I  suggest  no  change  in  the  present  system,  but  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that 
it  possesses  the  advantage  enjoyed  by  all  successful  private  enterprises,  namely, 
the  liberty  to  make  changes  and  adopt  improvements  in  work  or  methods  that 
may  be  found  best  for  the  State. 

As  conditions  are,  the  limited  contract  system  as  it  exists  in  this  State  is  as 
well  as  any.  The  State-account  system  may  be  as  good  in  all  respects,  provided 
the  merit  system  of  appointments  to  positions  and  the  merit  tenure  of  office  pre- 
vail in  the  prison. 

If  convicts  work  at  anything,  they  compete  with  those  who  would  do  that  thing 
if  the  convicts  did  not  do  it.  But  competition  is  inevitable,  and  inheres  in  the  act 
of  production ;  so  there  can  not  be  production  without  competition.  It  is  no  valid 
objection  to  prison  labor  that  it  competes  with  free  labor.  The  production  in  the 
prison  is  only  the  same  as  though  the  convicts  were  free.  If  it  is  right  for  such  a 
man  to  produce  when  free,  it  is  when  in  prison,  and  for  the  same  reason.  What  he 
produces  in  the  one  case  is  as  much  an  addition  to  the  wealth  and  resource  of  the 
nation  as  in  the  other. 

This  production  is  the  least  hurtful,  in  fact,  if  left  to  the  operation  of  natural 
causes,  in  which  case  prison  products  are  left  to  go  where  they  are  most  wanted, 
scattered  abroad.  It  is  most  hurtful  when  the  sale  and  consumption  of  the  prod- 
ucts are  restricted  to  localities  or  classes  of  consumers. 

In  this  State  the  prison  labor  most  objected  to  was  furniture  manufacturing  at 
the  Ionia  prison  on  the  State  account.  But  I  know  of  no  real  injury  to  free  labor 
from  it. 


PRISON    LABOR.  127 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  to  change  from  one  system  of  work  to  another  does  not 
abolish  competition;  that  to  go  from  one  kind  of  work  to  another  does  not  do  so, 
but  merely  takes  it  from  one  class  to  cast  it  upon  another,  and  that  to  make 
articles  in  the  prisons  for  use  in  State  instittitions  and  municipalities  does  not 
and  can  not  abolish  competition,  it  is  believed  to  be  the  wiser  course  to  select 
suitable  kinds  of  labor  and  to  justify  the  pursuit  of  these  rather  than  to  apologize 
for  them.  A  rational  defense  meets  with  less  opposition  than  apologies  which 
inspire  unfounded  objections.  Prison  labor  has,  it  is  believed,  the  same  reason 
for  being  that  free  labor  has.  An  analysis  of  the  objections  to  it  reveals  the  fact 
that  these  are  generally  based  on  incorrect  assumptions  or  violate  the  principles 
of  economics. 

The  opinion  that  the  products  of  prison  labor  are  to  be  treated  differently  from 
the  products  of  free  industries  simply  because  they  are  the  product  of  convict 
labor,  and  the  opinion  that  the  natural  competition  of  convict  labor  with  free  labor 
is  of  itself  ground  of  objection  to  such  labor,  are  believed  to  be  unwarranted.  The 
products  are  the  same  as  though  made  by  free  labor.  The  competition  is  inevi- 
table and  exists  between  similar  free  industries  just  the  same  as  between  a  prison 
industry  and  a  free  industry. 

These  industries  add  to  the  State's  resources  and  greatness.  The  articles  which 
prisoners  manufacture  constitute  wealth  and  contribute  to  the  subsistence  and 
comfort  of  the  human  race  just  the  same  as  though  they  were  made  in  shops  out- 
side the  prison;  just  the  same  as  though  the  prisoners  who  made  them  were  free. 
All  agree  that  every  man  is  under  obligation  to  support  himself  and  avoid  being 
a  public  charge.  All  hold  that  if  the  men  who  are  prisoners  labored  before  they 
were  convicted  to  support  themselves  this  was  laudable,  and  that  it  would  be  laud- 
able for  them  to  do  so  when  their  imprisonment  ends.  By  parity  of  reasoning  it 
is  equally  laudable  for  them  to  do  so  while  they  are  prisoners.  The  man  gains  no 
right  to  be  supported  in  idleness  by  committing  crime,  nor  does  society  lose  the 
right  to  insist  that  he  shall  support  himself,  nor  is  the  laudableness  of  self-support 
diminished  by  his  act.  Those  who  advocate  measures  calculated  to  lessen  or 
abolish  productive  industries  in  our  prison  seem  to  assume  that  a  different  economic 
principle  applies  to  prison  labor  and  to  persons  in  prison  from  that  which  controls 
free  men  and  free  industries;  that  somehow  it  is  for  the  interest  of  the  State  that 
the  prisoners  do  not  produce  or  that  they  produce  as  little  as  possible.  But  this 
is  waste,  and  waste  is  a  vice.  The  adoption  of  such  a  policy  inculcates  a  vicious 
principle  in  the  administration  of  the  prisons  and  neglects  the  best  good  of  the 
convict  himself. 

Industry  and  the  habit  of  producing  is  the  greatest  support  to  the  honesty  of 
the  man.  Industry  is  the  most  available  exercise  the  prisoner  can  have.  To 
those  who  have  been  led  into  crime  through  idleness  or  dislike  of  labor  it  is  the 
most  appropriate  punishment.  From  every  point  of  view  prison  industry  is  jus- 
tified. It  is  also  an  essential  means  of  prison  discipline  and  of  reformation  of  the 
convict. 

While  the  employment  of  a  large  number  of  convicts  on  one  good  industry  is 
financially  better  for  the  prison,  the  pursuit  of  a  variety  is  believed  to  be  expe- 
dient, as  this  course  prevents  the  concentration  of  competition  and  makes  the 
convict  familiar  with  a  greater  variety  of  work  whereby  he  will  be  more  likely 
to  find  employment  when  released. 

Experience  in  this  State  has  seemed  to  justify  the  preference  expressed  by  th« 
manufacturers  and  mechanics  of  50  years  ago  in  favor  of  the  contract  system 
of  prison  industries  and  to  confirm  the  reasoning  on  which  that  preference  was 
founded,  for  the  greatest  and  worst  competition  of  prison  industries  has  occurred 
where  the  prison  industry  was  carried  on  upon  State  account 


128  UNITKD    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

The  history  of  prison  industries  shows  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  contracting 
of  the  labor  of  convicts  to  manufacturers  for  wages  has  been  less  hurtful  to  free 
labor  than  the  State  account  system  of  work,  and  at  the  same  time  it  has  been 
more  profitable  to  the  State  in  a  large  majority  of  cases. 

The  circumstances  and  incidents  that  attend  the  two  systems  of  work,  the  State- 
account  system  and  the  contract  system,  are  so  different  in  different  States  that 
it  seems  well  to  mention  what  they  are  in  this  State.  What  the  convict  really 
earns  inures  to  the  State  whether  he  be  employed  under  the  one  system  or  the 
other.  The  maintenance  of  the  convicts,  their  guarding  and  keeping,  are  in  all 
cases  done  by  the  State  and  at  its  expense. 

It  is  usual  for  the  State  to  furnish  the  shops  also,  so  the  cost  of  these  are  not 
taken  into  account  in  comparing  systems,  but  here  the  conditions  that  are  com- 
mon to  both  systems  usually  end.  Under  the  contract  system  the  State  employs 
the  convicts  to  work  for  contractors  by  the  day  for  wages  agreed  upon  between 
it  and  the  contractor.  The  latter  supplies  the  machinery,  the  raw  material,  work- 
ing capital,  superintendent  of  the  work,  and  so  on.  Under  the  State-account 
system  the  State  supplies  all  these  and  conducts  the  business  throughout. 

When  prisoners  are  employed,  working  for  wages  agreed  upon,  the  financial 
result  to  the  State  is  fixed  and  apparent.  It  consists  of  the  wages  earned.  When 
they  are  employed  manufacturing  on  State  account  the  financial  result  is  at  first 
uncertain  and  indefinite.  It  consists  of  the  amount  realized  from  the  sale  of  the 
articles  made,  less  the  cost  of  soiling  them  and  the  losses  of  the  trade,  less  the 
cost  of  the  raw  materials  used  and  wasted  in  the  manufacturing,  less  the  interest 
on  the  money  paid  for  machinery  and  employed  as  working  capital,  less  the  wear 
and  depreciation  of  machinery,  and  the  like. 

The  preference  for  the  contract  system  exclusively,  so  manifest  years  ago,  went 
quite  too  far,  and  it  was  a  step  in  the  direction  of  rational  management  of  prison 
industries  when  the  law  was  so  revised  as  to  allow  the  prisons  to  employ  the 
convicts  on  State  account  as  well  as  upon  contracts. 

From  the  preference  for  the  contract  system  exclusively,  a  tendency  has  mani- 
fested itself  in  some  quarters  to  rush  into  the  opposite  extreme  and  to  require  all 
labor  in  prisons  to  be  done  on  State  account.  It  proposes  to  restrict  and  embar- 
rass the  sale  of  prison-made  goods,  to  brand  them  and  subject  those  who  sell  them 
to  an  unequal  license  tax,  to  restrict  prisons  to  the  making  of  things  for  other 
State  institutions,  and,  finally,  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  prison  products  altogether. 

It  is  believed  to  be  the  only  safe  course  in  the  management  of  prison  industries, 
as  in  other  affairs,  to  select  and  adhere  to  a  rational  policy,  one  that  conforms  to 
the  policy  that  makes  outside  industries  prosperous.  The  economic  principles 
that  apply  to  free  manufacturing  avail  also  in  the  prisons.  The  law  as  it  now 
stands  gives  scope  for  the  carrying  on  of  prison  work  according  to  business 
methods.  The  liberty  to  employ  the  prisoners  at  work  on  State  account  or  to 
have  them  work  for  contractors  for  wages,  is  essential  to  the  attainment  of  the 
best  results  and  is  in  harmony  with  the  conditions  that  exist  in  a  state  of  freedom 
where  each  man  carries  on  business  on  his  own  account  or  works  for  wages  as  he 
finds  best  in  his  situation. 

The  recommendations  of  various  other  officials  of  penal  and  reformatory  insti- 
tutions in  the  State  are  summarized  as  follows: 

No  change  is  desired  by  the  management  of  the  State  prison  or  the  public  at 
large.  The  present  system  is  the  best.  The  competition  is  so  small  that  if  all  the 
industries  of  the  penal  institutions  were  abolished  the  public  would  not  notice 
the  difference.  There  is  but  little  agitation  of  the  question  in  this  State. 

The  piece-price  plan  of  contract  is  the  most  satisfactory,  provided  the  terms  and 
conditions  of  the  contract  place  the  regulating  of  tasks,  etc.,  in  the  hands  of  the 
prison  authorities,  so  that  the  inmates  may  be  allowed  a  certain  per  cent  of  all 


PRISON    LABOR.  129 

earnings  over  and  above  the  required  reasonable  task  or  requirement.  Under  it 
you  can  regulate  the  output,  allow  your  inmates  a  certain  amount  of  his  earn- 
ings over  and  above  a  specified  task,  so  as  to  encourage  industry,  which  is  the 
acknowledged  foundation  of  reform.  I  do  not  believe  a  prisoner  should  be  allowed 
any  privilege  unless  he  earns  it,  and  if  this  is  impressed  upon  his  mind  he  will 
work  out  his  own  salvation. 

I  do  not  believe  that  convict  labor  competes  with  free  labor  in  general  results. 
The  average  term  of  confinement  throughout  the  United  States  is  something  less 
than  2  years,  when  these  men  are  again  placed  in  a  position  where  it  will  be 
necessary  to  rely  on  their  teaching  of  industry  to  earn  an  honest  living  as  free 
labor.  If  they  are  not  taught  industry  by  steady  employment  wherein  they  can 
see  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy  while  in  prison,  they  will  go  out  entirely 
unprepared  to  battle  with  the  outside  world,  and  will  sooner  or  later  return  to 
crime. 

Abolish  the  contract  system  and  substitute  the  State-account  system.  The 
State-account  system  is  the  most  desirable,  the  prisoners  being  directly  under  the 
control  of  the  prison  authorities  at  all  times. 

I  do  not  believe  that  convict  labor  competes  with  free  adult  labor  to  any 
appreciable  extent.  It  is  the  competition  of  child  labor,  in  my  opinion,  that  needs 
correction,  much  of  the  results  of  child  labor  being  charged  to  convict  labor. 

We  have  tried  all  the  systems  of  employment,  and  find  the  piece-price  plan  of 
contract  the  most  satisfactory,  for  the  following  reasons: 

First.  The  contractor  pays  for  what  he  gets  only,  knows  exactly  what  each 
article  is  costing  him,  and  has  no  fault  to  find  regarding  the  amount  of  work 
performed  by  any  particular  inmate. 

Second.  The  prison  authorities  can  regulate  the  tasks  to  be  performed  at  any 
amount  which  they  may  consider  a  reasonable  day's  work. 

Third.  The  disposition  and  character  of  an  inmate  can  be  judged  better  by  the 
class  and  amount  of  work  he  does  than  in  any  other  way.  If  he  is  forced  to  do 
a  certain  amount  of  work,  and  does  it  well,  I  believe  in  holding  out  inducements 
for  him  to  work  for  himself  by  allowing  him  a  certain  percentage  of  what  he 
earns  over  and  above  the  required  task.  This  teaches  him  industry  and  at  the 
same  time  takes  away  the  sting  of  oppression. 

Contract  labor  by  convicts  yields  the  most  revenue  to  the  State,  and  the  manu- 
facture of  shirts  and  other  cotton  goods  are  clean,  light,  and  healthy  occupations. 
I  have  been  unable  to  observe  that  prison  labor  in  this  State  has  lowered  the 
price  of  goods  or  the  wages  of  free  labor. 

The  elastic  system  of  Michigan,  which  permits  of  State-account,  piece-price, 
or  contract  systems  of  employing  convicts,  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  board  of 
control  is  most  desirable,  is  the  best  for  all  concerned,  under  certain  existing 
circumstances.  Convict  labor,  like  any  other  labor,  must  compete. 

All  prisoners  in  county  jails  should  be  compelled  to  work. 

MINNESOTA. 

The  public-account  and  piece-price  systems  in  use  at  the  State  penitentiary 
have  given  general  satisfaction.  The  warden  states  that  it  is  his  belief  that  any 
well-regulated  penal  institution  of  moderate  size  can  be  conducted  on  State 
account  and  made  self-sustaining  with  proper  management.  The  only  changes 
he  would  suggest  in  the  laws  of  this  State  would  be  such  as  to  require  all  con- 
victs to  work  on  State  account,  and  to  place  a  reasonable  limit  on  the  number 
that  might  be  employed  upon  any  given  industry.  He  does  not  believe  that  con- 
vict labor  as  now  conducted  in  Minnesota  cuts  any  appreciable  figure  with  free 
labor,  or  that  it  has  ever  been  the  cause  of  reducing  the  price  of  labor. 
250A— VOL  in 9 


130  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

There  is  not  adequate  provision  made  for  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  jails, 
and  it  is  suggested  that  farm  and  road  work  would  be  most  desirable,  as  it  benefits 
the  community  without  exciting  the  opposition  of  free  labor. 

Prisoners  should  be  employed  at  State  work,  not  on  contract.  The  public 
account  system  is  the  best. 

MISSISSIPPI. 

The  lease  or  contract  and  share-crop  systems,  as  now  worked,  are  not  satis- 
factory. It  is  recommended  that  facilities  be  furnished  for  extending  farm  and 
agricultural  work,  the  products  to  be  sold  on  the  open  market  and  consumed  in 
the  State  institutions. 

MISSOURI. 

The  warden  of  the  State  penitentiary  states  that  the  contract  system  as  it  is 
used  at  that  institution  is  giving  satisfaction,  and  no  changes  are  recommended. 
There  appears  to  be  no  system  so  advantageous  to  both  the  taxpayers  and  the 
convicts.  The  competition  with  free  labor  is  very  limited. 

The  officials  of  other  institutions  state  as  follows: 

It  is  believed  that  a  law  that  requires  convicts  to  work  directly  for  the  State, 
rather  than  the  present  plan  of  hiring  their  labor  to  contractors,  would  be 
beneficial  to  both  convict  and  free  labor.  Convicts  should  have  plenty  of  healthy 
labor.  Keep  body  and  mind  employed  as  great  a  part  of  the  time  as  possible 
without  requiring  over  or  unreasonable  exertion.  The  amount  of  manufacturing 
in  Missouri  penal  institutions,  including  the  penitentiaries,  is  too  small  to  have 
much  effect  on  free  labor. 

The  practice  of  working  prisoners  in  the  jails  on  the  public  roads  is  desirable. 
While  employed  on  building  public  roads  convicts  do  not  compete  with  free  labor, 
for  the  reason  of  the  great  amount  of  this  work  to  be  done  and  the  small  sum  of 
money  available  for  such  use,  all  sums  appropriated  are  exhausted  in  employing 
free  labor,  and  convicts  are  employed  in  addition. 

MONTANA. 

Beyond  the  duties  incidental  to  the  care  of  the  institution,  no  employment  is 
furnished  convicts  at  the  penitentiary.  This  practice  of  no  employment  for  the 
inmates  of  the  penitentiary  and  jails  is  not  satisfactory.  It  is  believed  that  the 
employment  of  convicts  on  public  improvements,  and  at  such  work  as  raising 
produce  for  their  own  consumption,  where  they  would  not  compete  with  free  labor, 
would  be  very  satisfactory  to  all  the  people  of  this  State.  It  is  suggested  that 
they  should  be  employed  in  improving  and  beautifying  public  places,  such  as  high- 
ways and  parks,  where  the  cost  of  guarding  would  not  be  too  great — dangerous 
prisoners  to  be  employed  within  the  walls  in  repairing  the  State  property. 

Industrial  training  on  the  "  Elmira  plan!'  is  desirable  for  the  younger  prisoners. 
Older  prisoners  should  be  employed  in  manufacturing  for  the  needs  of  the  State 
institutions.  Plenty  of  road  work  should  be  furnished,  also  cutting  paving  stones 
and  making  macadam.  Laws  should  be  adopted  providing  for  a  better  classifica- 
tion of  the  prisoners.  More  employment  and  education,  and  permanent  confine- 
ment for  habitual  criminals.  Industrial  training  should  also  be  introduced  into 
penal  institutions.  Diversified  trades  should  be  furnished  those  capable  of  learn- 
ing, and  work  on  highways  furnished  when  desirable. 

NEBRASKA. 

The  contract  system  is  largely  in  use.  It  is  recommended  that  farming  opera- 
tions, to  raise  supplies  for  the  use  of  the  institutions,  be  extended. 


PRISON   LABOR.  131 

NEVADA. 

There  are  but  comparatively  few  convicts,  and  they  are  kept  constantly  employed 
in  the  duties  incident  to  the  care  of  the  institution  and  also  manufacturing  sup- 
plies for  their  own  consumption. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

The  contract  system,  under  which  the  State  has  full  charge  of  the  discipline, 
etc.,  of  the  men,  is  giving  satisfaction.  Good,  healthful  work  in  well-ventilated 
shops  is  the  best. 

Convicts  do  not  compete  any  more,  if  as  much,  as  if  they  worked  outside.  Free 
labor  ought  not  to  be  taxed  to  support  criminals  in  luxury  and  idleness. 

The  inmates  of  the  State  Industrial  School  are  employed  under  the  piece-price 
system.  The  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  states  that  the  management  is 
humane.  There  is  an  entire  absence  of  anything  in  the  exterior  or  interior  of 
the  building  to  denote  that  it  is  a  penal  institution,  except  that  the  windows  of 
the  dormitory  are  barred.  It  is  impossible  to  adopt  any  system  of  labor  which 
will  not  be  the  occasion  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in  a  similar 
occupation  outside.  In  this  respect  we  have  been  fortunate,  as  fault-finding  has 
been  noticed  by  its  absence.  In  addition  to  the  knitting  machinery,  we  have  a 
few  cards,  breakers,  and  spinning  mules,  so  as  to  give  the  boys  some  knowledge 
of  that  kind  of  business.  What  I  now  say  will  be  substantiated  by  hundreds, 
and  that  is,  the  annual  examination  of  the  school,  which  is  held  in  May,  in  general 
interests  and  the  good  character  of  the  exercises,  are  fully  equal  to  those  of  any 
public  school  in  the  State.  For  good  conduct  during  the  year,  a  certain  number 
of  the  pupils  receive  honorable  discharges  at  this  annual  meeting.  I  do  not 
believe  that  there  is  an  institution  in  the  country,  that  so  far  as  net  results  are 
concerned,  can  make  a  better  showing  than  the  New  Hampshire  State  Industrial 
School. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

The  piece-price  system  of  employing  convicts  has  been  in  use  in  the  State  peni- 
tentiary for  about  fifteen  years,  and  has  proved  eminently  satisfactory,  not  only 
to  the  State  government,  but  to  the  citizens  interested  in  the  abstract  question  of 
convict  labor.  The  supervisor  of  the  prison  states : 

"  It  is  not,  in  my  opinion,  desirable  to  make  changes  in  the  laws  so  long  as  their 
operation  is  harmonious  and  is  obviously  beneficial  to  all  concerned.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  advantage  morally  and  physically  of  the  convicts  and  the  minimum 
injury  to  the  interests  of  free  labor  depends  less  upon  the  particular  system 
adopted  than  upon  the  care  and  discretion  with  which  any  adopted  system  may 
be  carried  out.  It  is  his  opinion  that  the  labor  and  production  of  the  convicts 
under  the  present  system  as  now  conducted  in  the  institution  does  not  compete 
to  any  appreciable  extent  with  outside  labor,  or  has  any  noticeable  effect  to  reduce 
the  number  of  wage-earners,  to  diminish  their  earnings,  or  to  depreciate  the  prices 
of  manufactured  articles.  The  laws  of  this  State  forbid  contracts  to  be  made  for 
the  mauufacture,  by  convict  labor,  of  the  product  of  more  than  100  men  in  any 
branch  of  industry.  There  are  9  branches  of  industry  carried  on  in  the  prison, 
and  upon  these  there  are  employed  about  700  men,  an  average  of  a  fraction  less 
than  78  men  to  each.  The  production  of  this  small  number  of  inexpert  men  in 
any  one  branch  of  manufacture  is  practically  microscopic  as  compared  with  out- 
side production,  and  by  the  operation  of  this  law,  the  mental,  moral,  and  physi- 
cal benefits  of  regular  labor  are  secured  to  the  convicts,  while  the  competition 
of  their  labor  with  outside  or  '  free '  labor,  is  reduced  to  a  point  at  which  its 
effects  are  inappreciable. " 

The  officials  of  other  State  and  county  institutions  refer  to  the  systems  of  labor 
as  follows : 

';  Farm  work  and  making  macadam  and  working  on  roads  is  giving  satisfaction. 
No  convict  labor  should  be  let  by  contract  or  machinery  used  in  production. 
Under  such  conditions  there  can  be  no  competition  with  outside  labor. 


132  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

"  The  most  desirable  method  of  employing  convicts  is  in  building  and  repair- 
ing roads  and  in  preparing  macadam  to  be  furnished  free  to  burroughs,  towns, 
and  cities  for  road  purposes  only.  Convict  labor  engaged  in  building  roads  or 
repairing  same  is  less  objectionable  to  free  labor  than  any  other  industry  in  which 
they  can  be  employed. 

"Hard  physical  labor  is  the  best  for  convicts,  especially  work  in  which  the 
majority  of  people  dislike  to  engage. 

"  Where  convict  labor  is  done  without  machinery  it  does  not  compete  with  free 
labor. 

"  That  system  for  employing  convicts  that  will  keep  them  constantly  employed 
during  imprisonment  and  fit  them  to  earn  an  honest  living  after  release,  and  also 
surround  them  with  elevating  influences,  is  the  best.  The  most  important  ques- 
tion is  not, '  Does  convict  labor  unduly  compete  with  free  labor.'  It  is  this:  '  How 
can  we  best  qualify  and  inspire  these  unfortunate  creatures  with  an  earnest 
desire  to  compete  with  free  labor  when  they  become  free? '  This  is  the  best  remedy 
for  competition  between  convicts  and  free  labor,  viz:  Do  all  we  can  to  lessen  the 
convict  class  by  seeking  to  make  them  self-respecting  and  self -supporting.  Then 
they  will  become  consumers  as  well  as  producers  and  thus  increase  the  demand 
for  the  products  of  other  free  labor.  The  difficulty  does  not  lie  so  much  between 
convict  and  free  labor,  rather  between  idleness  and  industry,  skilled  and  unskilled 
labor.  Make  every  convict  an  industrious  and  skillful  producer  and  there  will 
be  a  demand  for  all  the  products  of  free  labor,  because  each  will  be  a  consumer." 

NEW  MEXICO. 

The  present  system  of  employment  of  convicts  at  the  penitentiary  in  the  con- 
struction of  public  buildings,  farm  work,  and  manufacturing  bricks  and  lime  to  a 
limited  extent  on  the  State-account  system  has  been  satisfactory.  The  warden 
states  that  the  best  method  is  to  maintain  strict  discipline,  employ  convicts  under 
the  management  of  penitentiary  authorities  directly,  and  employ  them  on  public 
works  or  in  the  manufacture  of  articles  that  do  not  come  in  competition  with 
free  labor.  Convict  labor  in  the  Territory  does  not  come  into  competition  with 
free  labor  to  any  material  extent.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  convicts 
employed  in  order  to  maintain  discipline  and  their  health  physically  and  morally. 

NEW  YORK. 

The  president  of  the  State  Commission  of  Prisons  states: 

"  That  the  present  method  of  employing  convicts  in  manufacturing  supplies  for 
the  State,  county,  and  municipal  institutions  is  proving  satisfactory;  also  that 
convict  labor  competes  in  some  measure  with  free  labor.  The  present  New  York 
system  reduces  this  competition  to  a  minimum.  This  system  gives  the  convicts 
sufficient  labor  for  health  and  exercise  and  leaves  reasonable  time  for  industrial 
training  and  instruction  in  letters,  as  the  average  time  which  the  convicts  actu- 
ally worked  in  these  prisons  is  about  six  hours  a  day. 

"  As  the  convict-made  goods  are  sold  to  the  State  and  county  institutions  at 
market  prices,  there  is  no  reduction  of  prices  of  manufactured  articles  by  reason 
of  such  labor;  and  as  the  industries  in  the  prisons  are  so  much  diversified,  the 
amount  of  product  in  any  one  industry  is  so  small  that  its  reduction  of  the  num- 
ber of  free  wage  workers  or  their  wages  is  inappreciable. 

"  The  average  number  of  convicts  in  the  3  State  prisons  during  the  year  ending 
September  30  last  was  3,311.  These  convicts  performed  during  the  year  451,945 
days'  labor,  of  an  average  of  about  6  hours  each,  on  productive  industries.  This 
does  not  take  into  account  a  considerable  amount  of  work  done  upon  what  are 
termed  '  nonproductive  industries,'  such  as  the  building  of  additional  prison  build- 
ings. 

"  In  these  prisons  much  of  the  work  is  task  work — that  is,  a  stated  task  is  to  be 
performed  by  each  convict  each  day.  This  task  is  of  necessity  gauged  to  the 
capacity  of  the  least  competent,  and  is,  of  course,  very  much  less  than  the  amount 
which  a  free  laborer  would  do  in  a  day.  Then  it  is  further  worthy  of  remark  that 
a  convict  at  his  best  does  not  compare  in  average  efficiency  with  a  free  workman. 
Hence  it  is  true  that  a  few  hundred  competent  men  employed  as  free  laborers 
will  accomplish  as  much  work  in  a  year  as  was  accomplished  by  3,300  convicts  in 
the  3  State  prisons  of  the  State.  This  will  more  fully  appear  from  the  following 
statement: 

"The  total  value  of  the  industrial  product  of  the  3  prisons  for  last  year  was 
$564,238. 


PRISON    LABOR.  133 

"The  value  of  the  convict  labor  entering  into  this  product  was  $130,748. 
Dividing  that  by  304,  the  number  of  working  days  in  the  year,  we  find  that  the 
average  daily  earnings  of  all  the  convicts  was  $430. 

"  It  will  thus  appear  that  the  earnings  of  286  men,  at  $1.50  per  day,  would  equal 
the  total  earnings  of  the  3,311  convicts  in  the  3  prisons. 

"  In  a  State  with  a  population  of  over  7,000,000,  and  containing  vast  industries 
such  as  this  State  has,  this  insignificant  amount  of  convict  labor  can  not  cause  any 
appreciable  reduction  in  the  number  of  wage  workers  or  their  wages. 

•'Other  officials  of  State  and  county  institutions  refer  to  the  desirable  and  unde- 
sirable features  of  the  system  as  follows: 

"  It  seems  to  afford  more  advantages  than  any  other  we  have  previously  tried. 

"A  legislative  committee,  who  investigated  the  matter  thoroughly  recently, 
reported  that  they  had  failed  to  find  that  any  business  or  individual  was  injured 
by  the  present  system. 

"The  present  system  seems  to  have  the  least  objectionable  features  of  any 
known,  and  seems  to  be  most  satisfactory  to  all  laboring  classes. 

"  Convict  labor  must  of  necessity  compete  with  free  labor  just  as  free  laborers 
of  one  class  compete  with  each  other. 

"  The  system  is  satisfactory,  but  the  institution  should  be  furnished  with  more 
work  for  the  inmates. 

"  The  system  recently  inaugurated  by  the  State  of  New  York  is  the  best  known. 
There  is  no  competition  from  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  except  that  the  supplies 
made  by  the  prisoners  in  the  prisons  and  sold  to  other  institutions  and  to  the  civil 
divisions  of  the  State,  competes  by  taking  the  place  of  other  supplies  which,  if 
such  a  system  did  not  exist,  would  be  made  by  free  labor. 

' '  Of  course  there  can  be  no  useful  work  done  by  any  man  in  prison  or  out  but 
it  is  more  or  less  in  competition  with  the  work  of  some  other  man. 

"  The  reformatory  system  is  satisfactory  to  a  very  high  degree,  as  it  enables  the 
reformation  of  the  inmate  to  be  kept  constantly  in  view.  Trade  instruction, 
manual  training,  and  common-school  instruction  is  the  best. 

"  The  system  is  not  satisfactory,  convicts  should  be  employed  indoors,  on  the 
premises,  making  any  article  that  can  be  made  by  hand  or  with  as  little  machinery 
as  possible,  and  the  products  should  be  sold  on  the  open  market.  The  State  con- 
stitution should  be  amended  so  as  to  open  all  markets  to  prison  production  at  out- 
side prices.  Free  labor  does  not  suffer.  The  convict,  if  he  were  free,  would  have 
to  produce  more  than  he  does  while  a  prisoner. 

"I  believe  the  State  should  go  back  to  the  so-called  Fassett  law,  which  provides 
for  the  employment  of  convicts  not  more  than  8  hours  a  day  on  the  piece-price 
plan.  The  entire  number  of  convicts  employed  in  any  one  industry  should  be  not 
greater  than  5  per  cent  of  the  number  of  free  persons  employed  in  such  industry 
in  the  State.  This  system  would  be  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  the  convicts, 
both  morally  and  physically,  because  it  provides  steady  employment,  and  at  the 
same  time  gives  them  an  opportunity  to  become  proficient  in  some  line  of  work 
at  which  they  may,  after  their  release  from  prison,  earn  an  honest  living.  Under 
this  law  the  interests  of  free  labor  were  practically  uninjured,  the  5-per-cent 
clause  prohibiting  the  employment  of  a  sufficient  number  in  any  one  industry  to 
make  competion  with  free  labor  profitable." 

The  State  commission  of  prisons,  in  its  annual  report  for  the  year  1898,  makes 
the  following  recommendations: 

"The  experience  of  the  past  2  or  3  years  has  demonstrated  that  great  benefits 
will  result  from  the  law  in  regard  to  the  new  system  of  labor,  and  that  the  com- 
mission should  have  the  support  of  the  legislation.  The  fact  has  been  fully  recog- 
nized that  the  commission  is  the  only  official  body  with  jurisdiction  extending  to 
all  the  penal  institutions  and  the  otherwise  disconnected  parts  of  the  penal  sys- 
tem. For,  as  is  often  mentioned,  the  State  prisons  are  not  connected  with  the 
reformatory,  house  of  correction,  or  penitentiaries,  which  are  under  entirely  sep- 
arate management,  except  through  the  commission. 

"  The  law  of  1895,  which  created  the  commission,  therefore  putupon  ittheduty 
of  outlining  and  reporting  a  system  for  the  employment  of  convicts  in  accord 
with  the  constitutional  provision  which  applies  alike  to  prisons,  reformatories, 
and  penitentiaries.  The  system  enacted  into  law  by  chapter  429  of  the  laws  of 
1896,  also  recognized  as  a  fact  that  the  commission,  only,  had  jurisdiction  over  all 
institutions,  and  therefore  it  provided  for  the  distribution  of  industries  to  prisons, 
reformatories,  and  penitentaries,  under  regulations  to  be  made  by  the  commis- 
sion. By  the  same  law  also,  the  commission  was  logically  the  only  body  to  regu- 
late requisitions  for  supplies  which,  if  one  class  of  penal  institutions  could  not 
fill  them,  could  be  passed  to  another.  The  duty  of  overseeing  in  an  advisory  way 


134  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

the  general  working  of  a  new  system  was  put  upon  the  commission,  which  is,  for 
that  reason,  by  the  public,  held  to  a  degree  of  responsibility  for  the  results.  Such 
being  the  situation,  the  commission  should  be  given  the  fullest  possible  means  of 
knowing  all  the  time  what  is  the  actual  condition  of  industries  in  each  penal  institu- 
tion, what  requisitions  are  being  made,  and  what  supplies  there  are  in  each 
institution  or  class  of  penal  institutions  to  fill  them.  If  the  commission  gives  a 
certificate  to  one  official,  permitting  the  purchase  of  certain  goods  in  the  open 
market  because  the  penal  institutions  report  that  they  can  not  furnish  them,  and 
then  refuses  a  certificate  to  another  official  as  to  a  requisition  for  the  same  class 
of  goods  because  the  penal  institutions  do  not  report  that  they  can  not  fill  it,  the 
commission  is  criticised,  though  blameless,  and  frictions  occur.  The  law  ought 
to  explicitly  require  that  all  requisitions  be  made  in  duplicate  by  the  purchasing 
officials  or  institutions,  one  of  which  shall  be  sent  to  the  commission  and  the  other 
to  the  superintendent  of  prisons,  or  the  superintendent  of  the  reformatory  or  peni- 
tentiary upon  whom,  under  the  rules,  requisition  is  made.  This  would  make  less 
work  for  the  prison  officials  than  now,  and  as  the  requisitions  are  usually  type- 
written, two  copies  can  be  made  as  easily  as  one." 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

The  working  of  convicts  on  public  roads  is  satisfactory,  and  working  to  pro- 
duce for  consumption  at  the  institutions  is  more  satisfactory  than  profitable. 
In  this  State  the  working  of  convicts  on  public  roads  is,  beyond  question,  the 
most  advantageous  to  everybody.  Morally  and  physically  it  is  as  good,  if  not 
better,  for  the  convict  than  any  other  system. 

Forty-two  counties  in  the  State  are  working  their  convicts  in  improving  their 
roads,  and  our  laws  in  this  line  are  almost  perfect.  I  think  the  convicts  in  the 
penitentiary,  now  engaged  in  making  shirts,  brick,  and  farming  on  a  large  scale, 
should  be  employed  in  improving  the  State  roads. 

NORTH  DAKOTA. 
The  warden  of  the  State  penitentiary  states  as  follows : 

''I  have  made  a  careful  study  of  the  question  '  How  best  to  provide  for  the  sur- 
plus or  unemployed  labor  of  the  inmates  of  the  institution  ? '  In  doing  this,  I 
have  kept  ia  mind  all  the  conditions  and  circumstances  which  are  elements  and 
ought  to  be  considered  in  solving  the  problem,  and  my  conclusion  is,  considering 
particularly  the  best  interests  of  the  State  from  a  financial  point  of  view,  and  for 
the  institution  ana  its  inmates  from  all  points  of  view,  that  a  '  plant  for  the 
manufacture  of  binding  twine  and  cordage,'  to  be  operated  on  the  State-account 
plan,  should  be  established;  this  would  furnish  the  relief  needed  without  inter- 
fering in  the  least  degree  with  free  labor,  and,  carefully  managed  on  sound  busi- 
ness principles,  would,  inside  of  5  years,  place  the  institution  on  a  self-supporting 
basis." 

OHIO. 

The  labor  of  convicts  at  the  penitentiary  not  required  by  the  State  is  employed 
under  the  piece-price  system.  The  warden  states  that  the  system  is  as  satisfac- 
tory as  it  ever  has  been.  He  knows  of  no  system  of  employment  for  convicts 
that  offers  better  results  to  all  concerned  than  that  which  secures  to  the  State  a 
fair  remuneration  for  the  labor  of  each  convict  employed  at  such  labor  as  will 
enable  him  to  be  self-supporting  when  discharged  from  penal  service.  There 
must  and  always  will  be  competition  as  long  as  prisoners  are  employed,  and  no 
sensible  person  will  ever  suggest  that  prisoners  should  remain  idle.  He  knows 
of  no  instance  where  the  number  of  wage  workers,  their  wages,  or  the  price  of 
manufactured  articles  were  reduced  by  reason  of  the  product  of  convict  labor  in 
this  State. 

The  Ohio  penitentiary  used  to  make  contracts  for  a  specified  number  of  pris- 
oners, and  the  price  received  from  the  contractor  ranged  from  50  to  75  cents  per 
day  for  each  convict.  During  1884  the  system  of  contracts  was  changed  by  leg- 
islative enactment  to  piece  price,  and  all  contracts  made  since  then  have  been 
made  in  compliance  with  this  statute. 


PEISON    LABOR.  135 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  piece-price  system  is  not  so  profitable  to  the  State  as  the 
old  contract  system  was,  but  it  wipes  out  the  charge  then  often  made  that  the 
convicts'  daily  task,  imposed  by  the  contractor  as  it  was,  was  greater  than  it 
should  have  been. 

The  work  performed  by  the  convict  is  such  as  will  enable  him  to  secure  when 
discharged  profitable  employment  at  labor  similar  to  that  performed  by  him  while 
in  prison,  where  he  was  not  hindered  or  prevented  from  being  self-supporting  on 
discharge  by  teaching  him  trades  at  hand  work  while  the  outside  uses  machinery. 

The  officials  of  other  institutions  state  as  follows: 

Under  all  prison  systems,  if  discipline  is  to  be  maintained  at  its  best,  and 
reformation  promoted  and  health  preserved,  some  form  of  labor  is  absolutely 
essential.  The  law  provides  that  a  convict  must  labor,  and  he  is  so  sentenced  by 
our  courts  to  hard  labor.  The  prisoner  can  so  demand  from  the  State  to  furnish 
him  with  work.  Labor  is  the  base  of  prosperity  of  every  state  and  government. 
The  entire  prison  population  of  this  country,  as  compared  with  the  labor  outside 
of  prisons,  amounts  to  only  2%  per  cent.  While  no  system  can  be  devised  which 
in  some  way  does  not  raise  the  question  of  competition,  there  is  no  way  of 
determining  the  amount  of  reduction  in  prices  and  wages  caused  by  such  com- 
petition. 

OKLAHOMA. 

The  prisoners  of  the  Territory  are  kept  under  contract  at  the  Kansas  State 
penitentiary.  Prisoners  in  jails  are  not  employed.  The  following  suggestions 
are  submitted  by  the  official  of  one  of  the  county  jails:  Convicts  should  be 
worked  8  hours  per  day,  and  if  they  work  overtime  they  should  receive  a  reason- 
able compensation  for  such  overtime.  They  should  be  employed  at  some  occu- 
pation whereby  they  could  learn  a  trade  and  improve  themselves  intellectually. 

OREGON. 

The  systems  of  employing  convicts  under  contracts,  in  farm  work  and  in  mak- 
ing articles  for  their  own  support,  have  proved  satisfactory. 

The  superintendent  of  the  State  prison  makes  the  following  recommendations 
in  his  annual  report  for  1898: 

"  The  prisoners  must  be  employed,  and,  with  4  years'  experience  and  observa- 
tion in  the  prison,  I  have  concluded  that  there  is  no  better  system  for  the  employ- 
ment of  the  convict  than  the  lease  (under  rules  and  regulations  looking  to  the 
protection  and  care  of  the  men),  and  can  say  nothing  better  than  to  report 
what  was  said  2  years  ago:  The  leasing  of  convict  labor  within  the  walls,  with 
proper  hours  of  labor  and  just  treatment  of  prisoners,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  prison  management,  together  with  the  control  of  the  necessary  free  and 
expert  employees,  can  not  be  too  highly  recommended  by  me.  I  have  no  hesi- 
tancy in  saying  the  lease  system  is  the  best  for  the  State,  and  under  proper  super- 
vision by  prison  authorities  nothing  is  better  for  the  convicts.  In  carrying  out 
the  provisions  of  the  present  lease  there  has  been  no  conflict  of  authority.  The 
prisoners  have,  as  a  rule,  been  contented  and  obedient,  rather  preferring  to  be 
at  work  in  the  shops  than  to  be  idle  in  their  cells.  Not  a  single  case  of  insub- 
ordination nor  serious  trouble  of  any  kind  has  occurred  among  the  men  working 
in  the  foundry.  A  system  of  prize  money,  awarded  by  the  lessees  for  honest 
and  faithful  work,  adds  much  to  the  contentment  and  comfort  of  the  prisoners. 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  extend  the  authority 
of  the  governor  to  make  other  leases  for  the  employment  of  these  men." 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  warden  of  the  Eastern  Penitentary  at  Philadelphia  states  that — 

"  The  public-account  system,  as  practiced  in  his  institution,  is  giving  satisfac- 
tion, also  that  all  machinery  should  be  eliminated,  the  work  to  be  done  by  hand 
and  the  prisoners  working  in  their  separate  cells,  being  isolated  from  all  other 


136  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

prisoners.  Under  these  conditions  the  system  would  be  the  most  desirable  for  the 
employment  of  convicts.  Under  the  system  in  use  in  this  penitentiary,  there  is 
no  competition  with  free  labor;  all  the  convict  labor  being  by  hand,  there  is 
not  enough  made  to  make  the  production  felt.  Representatives  from  the  labor 
organizations  have  examined  the  system  and  admit  that  the  penitentiary  does  not 
manufacture  enough  to  interfere  with  free  labor." 

The  warden  of  the  Western  Penitentiary,  at  Allegheny,  states  that — 

"  The  system  there  in  use  is  not  satisfactory,  because  there  is  not  sufficient 
employment.  By  an  act  of  the  assembly  approved  June  18.  1897,  steam  power  in 
all  penal  institutions  was  prohibited,  and  the  number  of  convicts  to  be  employed  on 
certain  industries  limited  to  5,  10,  and  20  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the 
respective  institutions.  It  is  desirable  that  legal  authority  be  given  to  furnish 
employment  to  all  persons  sentenced  to  imprisonment  at  labor,  not  only  for  the 
benefit  of  the  State,  but  as  best  for  the  man  when  he  is  released  from  prison.  The 
industries  selected  should  be  least  competitive  and  the  work  should  be  of  a 
character  helpful  to  make  the  prisoner  a  skilled  laborer.  Prisoners  do  not  per- 
form half  the  amount  of  labor  in  a  day  that  a  free  man  must  to  keep  his  place. 
The  total  extent  of  injury  to  free  labor,  in  the  opinion  of  most  of  those  who  have 
given  the  matter  any  consideration,  is  greatly  exaggerated,  and  really  so  small  a 
factor  that  in  good  times  it  is  never  heard  of. 

"  My  personal  experience  has  convinced  me  that  labor  in  a  prison  must  be  real, 
earnest,  and  interesting.  To  be  helpful  to  the  imprisoned  man  it  should  be  per- 
formed in  shops,  operated  as  an  outside  shop  would  be,  and  the  man  must  be 
taught  to  work  skillfully  and  carefully  or  he  will  be  unable  to  do  such  work  when 
released.  Labor  is  an  absolute  necessity  and  most  helpful  to  prison  discipline. 
In  most  States  the  cost  of  support  by  labor  is  a  material  question;  where  ignored, 
as  in  New  York,  where  the  prisons  receive  an  annual  appropriation  for  support 
from  the  State,  it  may  take  the  question  out  of  politics,  but  the  inevitable  result 
follows  that  goods  made  for  State  and  political  divisions  cost  more  than  have 
hitherto  been  paid  for  similar  goods,  and  establishments  hitherto  furnishing 
such  goods  keenly  feel  that  the  State  is  competitive. 

"  The  question  of  competition  by  prison  labor  has  many  sides.  The  duty  of 
preservation  of  health,  both  of  mind  and  body,  of  the  prisoner  is  best  helped  by 
real  labor,  and  the  extent  of  injury  to  free  industries  by  such  labor  is  less  than 
fifty-two  one-hundredths  of  1  per  cent,  or  an  amount  so  small  as  to  be  scarcely 
felt  in  the  vast  market  for  all  forms  and  conditions  of  labor  in  this  country.  In 
any  event,  whatever  may  result  from  the  various  experiments  under  test,  the 
entire  matter  is  a  local  question,  to  be  finally  solved  by  the  parties  concerned,  as 
public  sentiment  may  be  guided  by  social  or  economic  reasons." 

The  officials  in  charge  of  some  of  the  county  workhouses  and  prisons  give  the 
following  information  concerning  the  methods  of  employing  convicts: 

"  The  system  is  not  satisfactory;  all  prisoners  should  be  employed.  Any  article 
manufactured  by  convict  labor  is  injurious  to  free  labor,  but  if  you  do  not  desire 
to  fill  the  insane  asylums  you  must  furnish  the  convicts  with  employment. 

"  The  system  is  not  satisfactory.  All  long-term  prisoners  should  be  worked  on 
strictly  hard  work,  no  power  machinery  should  be  used.  As  long  as  convict 
labor  is  done  by  hand  it  can  not  interfere  with  free  labor.  It  would  require  50 
men  by  hand  work  to  do  as  much  work  as  1  man  by  the  use  of  power  machinery. 

"We  buy  and  sell  on  the  open  market,  and  the  profits  go  toward  maintaining 
the  institution.  There  is  no  better  system  of  employing  convicts." 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

The  contract  system  has  been  in  use  for  30  years.  It  has  kept  the  prisoners 
constantly  employed,  and  appears  to  give  entire  satisfaction  to  the  prison  officials 
and  all  others  interested  in  the  subject. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

The  present  system  of  leasing  convicts,  working  farms,  and  manufacturing  on 
State  account  is  satisfactory.  The  farm  work  is  more  healthful,  but  not  so  profit- 
able. The  warden  of  the  penitentiary  states  that  he  does  not  consider  convict 
labor,  as  now  conducted  in  South  Carolina,  competes  with  free  labor,  the  numeri- 
cal percentage  of  convicts  being  so  small. 


PRISON    LABOR.  137 

SOUTH  DAKOTA. 

There  is  no  system  for  the  employment  of  convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary. 
The  warden  states  that  some  system  should  be  devised  for  the  employment  ot 
prisoners  within  the  walls.  The  laws  in  regard  to  prison  labor  are  very  incom- 
plete and  should  be  thoroughly  revised.  Prison  labor  in  the  State  does  not  con- 
flict in  a  marked  degree  with  free  labor. 

TENNESSEE. 

The  present  system  of  employing  convicts  at  the  penitentiaries  under  the  piece- 
price,  contract,  and  State-account  methods  are  in  the  main  satisfactory. 
The  board  of  prison  directors  state  that — 

"  The  industries  in  which  the  prisoners  are  engaged  are  so  diversified  that  the 
product  of  no  one  line  are  of  sufficient  importance  to  seriously  compete  with  any 
similar  industry  employing  free  labor.  In  none  of  the  lines  in  which  the  produc- 
tion is  the  heaviest  is  there  similar  manufactures  in  this  State  to  a  large  extent. 
The  most  extensive  output  from  the  prison  is  shoes  and  ladies  and  children's 
hosiery.  These  articles  are  not  those  of  extensive  manufacture  in  this  State." 

TEXAS. 

The  superintendent  of  the  State  penitentiary  gives  the  following  information 
relative  to  the  conditions  of  employment  at  his  institution: 

"  Under  the  present  management  we  have  been  able  to  make  the  penitentiaries 
more  than  self-supporting.  By  reference  to  the  report  of  the  financial  agent  it 
will  be  seen  that  on  November  1,  this  year,  we  had  on  hand  a  cash  balance  of 
$136,801.45.  However,  I  am  unalterably  opposed  to  the  lease  system  and  believe 
it  should  be  abolished,  for  the  following  reasons: 

"First,  there  is  too  much  uncertainty  attending  such  a  system,  at  remunerative 
prices. 

"  Second,  humanity  demands  that  the  State-account  system  should  be  adopted. 

"After  a  long  experience  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  no  sort  of  supervision 
can  be  inaugurated  that  will  absolutely  prevent  abuses  under  the  contract  system. 
I  repeat  what  has  been  said  before  in  this  report,  that  it  is  gratifying  to  me  to  be 
able  to  report  that  the  change  in  contracts  which  provides  for  the  State  feeding 
all  convicts  is  a  long  step  in  the  direction  of  State  account  and  reform.  Indeed, 
it  is  pleasing  to  be  able  to  say  that  I  have  not  had  a  complaint  with  reference  to 
food  since  the  change  was  made. 

"Farming  on  State  account  is  no  experiment.  By  reference  to  the  report  of 
the  plantation  situated  in  Fort  Bend  County  and  known  as  the  Harlem  plantation 
it  will  be  seen  that  second-class  negroes,  such  as  are  employed  on  this  place,  have 
been  more  profitable  to  the  State  than  first-class  labor,  such  as  hired  or  leased  to 
contractors.  Therefore,  I  renew  my  recommendation  of  former  years  with 
reference  to  the  State  buying  suitable  lands,  where  short-term  convicts  may  be 
employed  on  State  account. 

"  It  is  clear  to  my  mind  that  if  the  State  owned  sufficient  lands  to  work  all  the 
convicts  now  employed  under  the  lease  system  it  would  not  be  a  great  while 
until  the  profits  would  go  a  long  way  toward  paying  expenses  of  the  State  gov- 
ernment. It  may  be  said  that  agricultural  products  are  low,  which  is  true,  but 
my  plan  would  be  to  go  into  sugar  raising  as  rapidly  as  possible,  thereby  taking 
the  convict  labor  out  of  competition  with  the  cotton  farm,  and  at  the  same  time 
produce  that  which  is  much  more  profitable. 

"I  would  suggest  that  some  law  be  passed  by  the  legislature  requiring  that 
every  institution  in  this  State  should  be  required  to  purchase  any  and  all  goods 
from  the  penitentiary,  such  as  boilers,  engines,  furniture,  wagons,  buggies,  car- 
riages, etc.;  providing,  however,  that  no  greater  price  shall  be  paid  than  the  same 
goods  may  be  bought  elsewhere. 

"I  can  see  no  good  reason  why  the  State's  money  should  be  sent  out  of  the 
State  when  it  can  be  used  among  its  own  departments.  Such  laws  are  now  in 
force  in  some  of  the  States,  and  work  admirably,  providing  employment  for  very 
many  convicts  in  the  manufacture  of  such  goods  as  are  desired  by  other  depart- 
ments of  the  State  government." 


138  UNITED   STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

The  officials  of  county  jails  furnish  the  following  statements: 

"  The  State  should  furnish  convicts  labor  or  let  them  remain  idle.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  contractors  abuse  their  convicts,  and  any  man  with  ordinary  sense 
knows  that  you  can  never  reform  criminals  by  abusing  them. 

"  The  State  should  not  be  allowed  to  manufacture  articles  for  sale.  It  is  now 
selling  furniture  manufactured  by  convict  labor  cheaper  than  that  manufac- 
tured by  free  labor  can  be  sold. 

"The  State  should  cultivate  enough  land  to  make  the  penitentiary  self-sup- 
porting. 

"  Ten  years'  hard  labor  by  convicts  on  lease  farms  either  kills  them  or  ruins  their 
constitutions.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  present  system  of  controlling  con- 
victs not  only  ruins  what  little  moral  character  they  have  left,  but  seems  to 
destroy  the  very  basis  on  which  all  moral  character  is  built. 

"  Counties  should  own  farm  land  on  which  to  work  county  convicts." 

UTAH. 

The  present  system  of  working  convicts  in  constructing  public  buildings  and 
caring  for  the  same  and  in  agricultural  pursuits,  also  manufacturing  on  public 
account,  is  giving  general  satisfaction,  and  it  is  recommended  that  the  facilities 
for  such  diversity  of  employment  be  extended. 

VERMONT. 

The  contract  system  as  in  use  at  the  State  prison  appears  to  be  giving  satisfac- 
tion. The  officials  claim  that  there  should  be  a  wider  system  of  industrial  train- 
ing. There  is  no  better  way  of  employing  convicts  than  to  leave  the  entire  matter 
in  the  hands  of  a  good  board  of  directors. 

Convict  labor  does  not  materially  compete  with  free  labor.  No  law  should  be 
passed  designed  to  prohibit  productive  labor  of  prisoners.  Legislation  should 
proceed  with  great  caution,  prisoners  themselves  have  a  right  to  employment. 

The  best  method  of  employment  is  in  trade  schools,  and  otherwise  upon  such 
articles  as  are  used  in  State,  county,  and  municipal  offices  and  institutions. 

The  contract  system  is  not  desirable. 

The  number  of  convicts  employed  is  so  small  as  compared  with  the  number  of 
free  laborers  that  their  work  does  not  compete  with  free  industry. 

VIRGINIA. 

The  contract  system  as  now  in  use  at  the  State  penitentiary  has  given  satisfac- 
tion. Farming  operations  in  connection  with  the  penitentiary  have  been  of  great 
assistance. 

The  best  work  for  jail  prisoners  appears  to  be  on  the  public  highways,  under 
direction  of  competent  road  builders. 

WASHINGTON. 

The  employment  of  convicts  at  the  penitentiary  in  the  manufacture  of  jute  bags 
and  burlap  under  the  public-account  system  and  on  the  State  farm  and  in  work- 
shops connected  with  the  institution  have  given  satisfaction,  for  the  reason  that 
it  does  not  in  any  way  compete  with  free  labor. 

Both  the  moral  and  physical  effect  is  always  better  when  prisoners  are  con- 
stantly employed.  Any  system  of  employment  where  their  labor  does  not  com- 
pete with  ordinary  citizens'  labor  is  desirable. 

The  law  admits  of  the  working  of  prisoners  upon  the  public  highways,  and  it 
would  be  hard  to  improve  upon  such  a  system.  It  does  not  compete  with  free 
labor  and  is  entirely  for  the  public  benefit. 

The  best  system  of  employment  for  convicts  is  upon  the  construction  of  large 
public  improvements  which  would  not  otherwise  be  undertaken. 


PEISON   LABOR.  139 

WEST  VIRGINIA. 

Convicts  at  the  State  penitentiary  are  employed  within  the  prison  walls  under 
the  contract  system.  This  system  as  conducted  is  considered  to  be  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  State  and  is  humane  and  conducive  to  the  health  and  well-being 
of  the  convicts.  It  does  not  conflict  with  the  interests  of  free  labor. 

The  officials  of  the  county  jails  state  that  the  present  law,  providing  that  con- 
victs may  be  worked  on  the  public  roads,  would  give  entire  satisfaction  if  enforced. 

WISCONSIN. 

The  employment  of  convicts  at  the  State  prison  under  the  contract  and  public- 
account  systems  is  satisfactory,  especially  the  results  that  have  been  reached 
under  the  contract  system.  The  warden  states — 

"  That  the  contract  system  is  the  least  injurious  to  free  labor,  and  that  in  his 
opinion  the  effect  upon  free  labor  is  very  trifling,  as  the  amount  of  work  done  by 
a  convict  is  not  much  over  one-half  the  amount  that  is  performed  by  a  free  laborer." 

The  officials  of  other  institutions  make  the  following  statements: 

"  Convicts  at  the  State  prison  should  be  employed  in  making  macadam  and 
fixing  the  roads  and  not  in  the  manufacture  of  shoes  and  clothing,  to  be  sold  on 
the  open  market  in  competition  with  the  products  of  free  labor. 

"  Our  prison  does  lots  of  work  that  takes  employment  away  from  laborers,  and 
it  would  help  free  labor  if  the  prison  stopped  the  manufacture  of  clothing  and 
shoes. 

"  The  inmates  of  the  industrial  school  for  boys  should  all  be  employed  in  the 
shops  or  on  farm  work,  and  also  attend  school. 

"  I  do  not  believe  in  the  contract  system  for  prisons.  I  would  have  about  three 
good  shops,  the  character  to  be  determined  as  in  any  other  business,  and  the  prod- 
ucts sold  on  the  open  market. 

"  Every  time  a  man  works  he  is  in  competition  with  every  other  man  that 
works  when  they  are  in  the  same  competing  group.  The  only  way  to  avoid  com- 
petition is  to  have  the  prisoners  idle." 

WYOMING. 

The  penitentiary  and  the  convicts  are  leased.  The  lessee  has  the  privilege  of 
working  the  convicts.  This  is  considered  as  the  best  system  that  can  be  devised 
in  this  State  under  the  present  conditions. 


APPENDIX. 
SUMMARY  OF  COl^VICT-LABOR  LAWS. 


The  following  statement  presents  a  summary,  by  States,  of  legal  provisions  in  force  in  the  United 
States  in  1898,  relating  to  systems,  hours,  and  kinds  of  convict  labor ;  to  the  regulation  of  the  sale  of 
convict-made  goods,  so  far  as  such  regulations  tend  to  establish  or  limit  prices,  or  to  prescribe  rules 
governing  the  business  of  dealing  therein ;  and  to  the  diminishing  of  competition  between  convict 
and  free  labor. 

ALABAMA. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Code  of  18%,  sees.  4463  and  4498  make  general  provision  that  State  convicts 
shall  be  hired  or  employed  at  such  labor,  in  such  places,  and  under  such  regulations,  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  the  authorized  authorities,  having  in  view  the  end  of  making  the  system  self-sustaining ; 
and  that  contracts  maybe  made  "for  the  hire  of  the  labor"  of  State  convicts,  by  the  day,  month, 
year,  or  term  of  years,  the  State  in  such  case  controlling  and  supporting  the  convicts. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Sees.  4476,  4477,  and  4478  provide  for  the  leasing  of  State  convicts,  and  require  that 
all  hiring  of  them  must  be  per  capita;  that  not  less  than  50  such  convicts  shall  be  hired  to  one  per- 
son or  kept  at  one  prison,  except  that  less  than  50  may  be  worked  in  the  county  where  they  were 
convicted;  that  such  convicts  must  be  classed  or  tasked  if  hired  to  work  in  mines;  and  that  no  such 
convict  must  be  worked  at  a  different  place  or  occupation  than  that  expressed  in  the  contract,  or  be 
rehired,  or  placed  in  the  keeping  or  control  of  any  other  person  than  the  contractor,  without  authori- 
zation by  proper  State  officials. 

Sees.  4521,  4527,  4529,  and  4534  authorize  the  hiring  of  county  convicts  to  labor  anywhere  within 
the  State,  the  place  and  kind  of  labor  to  be  restricted  to  that  expressed  in  the  contract  of  hiring;  and 
such  convicts  must  not  be  sublet  or  rehired,  unless  authorized  by  proper  county  authorities. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Sees.  4514  and  4516  authorize  the  employment  of  State  convicts  at  farm- 
ing or  other  labor  on  any  land  owned  by  the  State,  and  provide  that  any  part  of  the  net  income 
derived  from  State  convict  labor  may  be  applied  to  manufacturing,  "  looking  to  the  more  permanent 
employment"  of  the  convicts. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— Sees.  4521,  4522,  4528,  4529,  and  4530  authorize  the  employment 
of  county  convicts  on  public  roads,  bridges,  and  other  public  works  in  the  county  where  convicted,  it 
being  provided  that  no  female  shall  be  required  to  labor  upon  any  public  highway. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  of  Alabama  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict 
labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  farming, and  employment  upon  public  works  and  ways  and 
in  mines. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  products  of  con- 
vict labor  or  for  diminishing  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

ARIZONA. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1895,  No.  19  provides  that  the  labor  of  the  inmates  of  the  Territorial  prison 
and  reform  school  may  be  leased,  on  contract  with  a  responsible  person  or  persons,  without  obligat- 
ing the  Territory  "to  furnish  tools,  machinery  or  money,  or  make  other  expenditure  other  than  the 
labor  of  the  inmates,  properly  clothed  and  fed,  and  the  proper  guards  for  the  same.'together  with  the 
use  of  the  property,  buildings  and  lands;"  and  that  no  contract  or  lease  shall  be  made  for  a  longer 
period  than  10  years.  The  labor  of  the  inmates  may  be  performed  either  inside  or  outside  the  prison 
or  reformatory  confines.  It  is  also  provided  that  the  buildings  and  property  connected  with  the 
insane  asylnm,  prison,  and  reform  school  may  be  leased  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  employment 
to  the  inmates  of  the  prison  and  reform  school. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — This  act  authorizes  the  employment  of  convict  labor  upon  pub- 
lic works,  by  stipulating  that  the  labor  of  the  inmates  of  the  institutions  named  shall  not  be  leased 
when  it  is  required  upon  the  buildings  or  property  thereof. 

Revised  Statutes  of  1887,  Sec.  2459,  provides  that  prisoners  in  the  county  jail  may  be  required  to 
perform  labor  upon  the  public  works  and  ways  of  the  county. 


142  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  of  Arizona  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  labor  of 
convicts. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  of  Arizona  contain  no  provisions  regulating  the  sale  of 
convict-made  goods  or  diminishing  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

ARKANSAS. 

CONTFACT  SYSTEM.— Digest  of  1894,  sees.  5499  (as  amended  by  act  No.  20,  extra  session  of  1897),  5500, 
5502,  5504,  and  5506,  authorize  the  employment  of  State  convicts  under  the  contract  system,  either 
inside  or  outside  the  prison  walls,  the  State  to  retain  the  control,  management,  and  discipline  of  the 
convicts,  and  "  to  direct  how,  at  any  and  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  its  convicts  shall  be 
lodged,  fed,  clothed,  guarded,  worked,  and  treated;  "  but  no  contract  shall  be  let  for  any  such  convict 
labor  if  equally  remunerative  employment  can  be  furnished  by  the  State,  so  as  to  work  the  convicts 
on  State  account. 

LEASE  SYSTEM.— Sees.  910  (as  amended  by  act  No.  16,  of  1895),  913-931  provide  that  contracts  shall  be 
made  for  the  maintenance,  safe-keeping,  and  working  of  prisoners  in  county  jails,  the  contractor  t 
keep,  feed,  and  clothe  the  prisoners. 

Sec.  888  authorizes  the  leasing  of  houses  of  correction,  and  the  farms  attached  thereto,  and  the 
labor  of  the  inmates,  for  terms  not  exceeding  two  years,  the  lessees  to  pay  all  expenses  of  mainte- 
nance and  care  of  the  institutions  and  the  inmates  thereof. 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Sees.  5499  (as  amended  by  act  No.  20,  extra  session  of  1897),  5500,  5502, 
5504,  and  5506  authorize  the  employment  of  State  convicts  under  the  public  account  system,  either 
entirely  or  conjointly  with  the  contract  system,  it  being  provided  that  no  contract  shall  be  let  for  the 
labor  of  such  convicts  if  equally  remunerative  employment  can  be  furnished  them  under  the  public- 
account  system. 

Sees.  883,  885,  and  886  provide  that  inmates  of  houses  of  correction  may  be  employed  in  cultivating 
the  farms  and  gardens  connected  therewith,  or  in  mechanical  pursuits,  and  the  products  of  their 
labor  shall  be  applied  to  paying  the  expenses  of  the  institution,  and  the  surplus  arising  from  the  sale 
of  such  products  shall  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sees.  5501,  5502,  and  5506  authorize  the  carrying  on  of  manufacturing  and 
other  industries,  either  inside  or  outside  the  prison  walls,  with  State  convict  labor,  the  products  of 
such  labor  to  be  used  in  State  institutions. 

PUBLIC- WORKS-AND-W AYS  SYSTEM.  — Acts  No.  33  and  38,  extra  session  of  1897,  authorize  the  employ- 
ment of  State  convicts  in  repairing  roads  leading  to  the  various  convict  camps,  and  in  constructing  State 
railroad  and  telegraph  lines. 

Digest  of  1894,  sec.  5543,  provides  that  penitentiary  convicts  may  be  worked  on  public  improve- 
ments, buildings,  and  grounds  in  the  city  of  Little  Rock. 

Sees.  896, 911,  and  932  provide  that  convicts  in  county  jails  may  be  worked  on  the  public  bridges, 
highways,  levees,  and  other  county  improvements. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Sec.  906  provides  that  persons  hiring  county  convicts  shall  not  work  them  for  a 
longer  time  during  any  day  than  other  laborers  doing  the  same  kind  of  work  are  accustomed  to  labor 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  farming,  coal  mining,  stone  quarrying  and  cutting,  clearing  and 
fencing  timber  land,  building  railroad  and  telegraph  lines,  and  upon  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  of  Arkansas  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of 
convict-made  goods.  Digest  of  1894,  sees.  5500  and  5559,  prohibit  the  lease  system  as  to  State  convicts, 
or  the  hiring  of  female  convicts  as  domestic  servants. 

CALIFORNIA. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1888,  chap.  264,  authorizes  the  employment  of  State  convicts  in 
manufacturing  or  other  work,  and  the  sale  of  such  manufactured  articles  as  are  not  required  for  use 
by  the  State. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1889,  chap.  264,  authorizes  the  employment  of  State  convicts  "  in  the 
manufacture  of  any  article  or  articles  for  the  State." 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  8,  authorizes  the  employment  of  State  con- 
victs in  the  construction  and  repair  of  public  roads. 

Acts  of  1891,  chap.  216,  authorizes  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  county  jails  "  upon  the  public 
grounds,  roads,  streets,  alleys,  highways,  public  buildings,  or  in  such  other  places  as  may  be  deemed 
advisable  for  the  benefit  of  the  county." 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Acts  of  1889,  chap.  264,  provides  that  an  able  bodied  State  convict  shall  be 
required  to  perform  "as many  hours  of  faithful  labor  in  each  and  every  day  during  his  term  of 
imprisonment  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  prison." 

KIND  OF  LABOR. — Manufacture  of  jute  goods,  of  road  metal  or  crushed  stone,  and  of  articles  for 
State  use,  and  employment  upon  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— Acts  of  1889,  chap.  264,  Acts  of  1893,  chap.  42,  Acts  of  1895,  chap.  208,  and 
Acts  of  1897.  chap.  97,  limit  the  commodities  to  be  manufactured  by  State  convicts  for  sale  to  jute 
fabrics  and  crushed  rock.  The  selling  price  of  crushed  rock  is  to  be  10  per  cent  above  the  cost  of  its 
production,  but  such  rock  shall  not  be  sold  for  less  than  thirty  cents  per  ton.  The  selling  price  of 


SUMMARY    OP    CONVICT-LABOR   LAWS.  '  143 

jute  bags  shall  not  be  more  than  one  cent  per  bag  in  excess  of  the  net  cost  of  production,  exclusive  of 
prison  labor;  not  more  than  5,000  grain  bags  shall  be  sold  during  any  one  year  to  any  one  person  or 
firm,  except  upon  the  unanimous  approval  of  the  board  of  prison  directors — except  that  after  June  15 
of  each  year  larger  quantities  may  be  sold  to  actual  consumers,  upon  consent  of  a  majority  of  the 
board  of  prison  directors ;  and  orders  of  farmers  for  grain  bags  shall  take  precedence  over  all  others. 
Constitution,  art.  10,  sec.  6,  prohibits  the  working  of  convicts  under  the  contract  or  lease  systems. 

COLORADO. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Mill's  Annotated  Statutes  of  1891,  sees.  3425,  3435,  and  3436,  and  Acts  of  1897, 
chap.  5,  provide  that  penitentiary  convicts  are  to  be  worked  to  the  hest  ad  vantage  of  the  people  of  the 
State;  that  their  labor  may  be  hired  out  to  be  worked  under  the  superintendence  of  the  warden,  and, 
if  outside  the  prison  walls,  under  the  custody  of  a  guard  or  overseer  of  the  penitentiary;  but  no  labor 
shall  be  performed  by  the  convicts  off  the  grounds  belonging  to  the  penitentiary  except  such  as  may 
be  incident  to  the  business  and  management  thereof. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Sees.  1446  and  1447  authorize  the  working  of  county  convicts  in  quarries  or  mines, 
and  when  so  working  they  shall  be  in  the  legal  care  and  custody  of  the  person  by  whom  they  shall 
be  employed,  subject  to  such  regulations  as  the  jail  keepers  may  prescribe. 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Sec.  3425,  idem,  and  Acts  of  1897,  chap.  5,  authorize  the  erection  of  work- 
shops at  the  State  penitentiary,  and  the  employment  of  able-bodied  convicts  at  such  labor  as  may  be 
of  the  most  advantage  to  the  penitentiary  and  the  people  of  the  State. 

Annotated  Statutes,  sec.  4163,  authorizes  the  employment  of  convicts  in  the  State  reformatory  in 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries,  the  products  of  their  labor  to  be  sold  or  disposed  of  for 
the  benefit  of  the  State. 

PUBLIC- WORKS- AND-W AYS  SYSTEM. — Sec.  1446  authorizes  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  county  jails 
on  any  of  the  public  streets,  highways,  or  other  works  in  the  county  where  confined,  or  in  adjoining 
counties. 

Sec.  2433  and  3425  authorize  the  employment  of  State  convicts  in  constructing  ditches,  canals, 
reservoirs,  and  feeders  for  irrigation  and  domestic  purposes,  and  in  making  improvements  in  the 
penitentiary  buildings. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR — Sec.  1445,  4174,  and  4435  provide  that  convicts  sentenced  to  hard  labor  shall  be 
"  kept  constantly  employed  during  every  day  except  Sunday;"  that  inmates  of  the  State  reformatory 
shall  be  worked  on  an  average  of  not  exceeding  10  hours  per  day,  Sundays  excepted;  and  that  per- 
sons convicted  of  violating  municipal  ordinances  shall  be  employed  not  exceeding  10  hours  each 
work  day. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  and  mecanical  industries;  employment  in  quarries  and  mines, 
in  the  construction  of  irrigating  ditches,  canals,  and  reservoirs,  and  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

Mill's  Annotated  Statutes  of  1891,  sec.  3448  and  3449  prohibit  the  bringing  into  the  State  to  perform 
labor  of  any  persons  convicted  of  crimes  or  misdemeanors,  except  ex-convicts;  or  the  bringing  in 
of  material  for  use  in  the  repairing  or  erection  of  any  public  building  labor  in  preparing  which  has 
been  performed  by  convicts. 

Sec.  4163  provides  that  convicts  in  the  State  reformatory  shall,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  articles  not  manufactured  elsewhere  in  the  State.  Acts  of  1897,  chap.  5,  provides 
that  able-bodied  convicts  in  the  State  penitentiary  shall  be  employed  in  work  which  may  least  con- 
flict with  the  free  labor  of  the  State. 

CONNECTICUT. 

General  Statutes  of  1888,  sees.  3341  and  3343,  make  general  provision  for  the  employment  of  inmates 
of  the  State  prison  "at  such  labor  as  the  directors  shall  order ; "  and  for  the  employment  of  a  limited 
number  outside  the  prison  walls,  within  a  limited  distance,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  warden. 

Sec.  3365  provides  that  county  convicts  may  be  required  "  to  work  according  to  their  ability." 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Sec.  3355  prescribes  regulations  under  which  50  or  more  State  convicts  may  be 
employed  "  by  contract  or  otherwise  at  any  trade  or  occupation." 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Sees.  3394  and  3396  direct  that  inmates  of  workhouses  be  employed  "at 
such  labor  as  they  shall  be  able  to  perform,"  be  furnished  with  materials  for  their  work,  and  be 
directed  by  authorized  officials  in  the  kind,  manner,  and  place  of  their  employment. 

Acts  of  1895,  chap.  317,  provides  that  inmates  of  the  reformatory  shall  be  employed  in  such  manner 
as  to  provide  as  far  as  possible  for  their  support,  their  reformation,  and  the  formation  of  the  ability 
and  disposition  to  support  themselves  and  their  families. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict  labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR.— No  specific  provision  is  made  as  to  the  kinds  of  labor  at  which  convicts  may  be 
employed, but  it  is  provided  generally  that  they  may  be  employed  at  "such  labor  as  the  directors 
shall  order;"  that  they  shall  work  "according  to  their  ability,"  or  at  "such  labor  as  they  shall  be 
able  to  perform,"  or  "  at  any  trade  or  occupation." 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 


144  '  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

General  Statutes  of  1888,  sec.  3355,  provide  that  when  it  is  proposed  to  employ  50  or  more  convicts  at 
any  trade  or  occupation  the  directors  of  the  State  prison  shall  advertise  the  fact  in  newspapers 
throughout  the  State  for  four  weeks  before  so  employing  them;  shall  inquire  into  the  effect  of  the 
proposed  employment  upon  the  interests  of  the  State  and  upon  free  labor;  shall  give  hearing  to  all 
who  wish  to  be  heard  in  the  matter;  and  if  it  shall  appear  from  such  inquiry  that  the  proposed 
employment  will  not  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  or  will  seriously  injure  the  citizens  of  any 
State  engaged  in  the  proposed  trade  or  occupation,  it  shall  be  prohibited. 

Acts  of  1895,  chap.  153,  provides  that  "no  person  confined  in  any  penitentiary,  or  other  place  for 
confinement  of  offenders,  under  control  of  the  State,  shall  be  employed  in  or  about  the  manufacture 
or  preparation  of  any  drugs,  medicines,  food  or  food  materials,  cigars  or  tobacco,  or  any  preparation 
thereof,  pipes,  chewing  gum,  or  any  other  article  or  thing  used  for  eating,  drinking,  chewing,  or 
smoking,  or  for  any  other  use  within  or  through  the  mouth  of  any  human  being." 

DELAWARE. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1881,  chap.  550,  sec.  7  (Revised  Code  of  1393,  chap.  54),  authorizes  the  hir- 
ing out  of  convicts  "  upon  the  most  favorable  terms  for  their  county,"  in  case  contracts  can  not  be 
made  for  their  custody  and  maintenance  in  other  States. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Revised  Code  of  1893,  chaps.  54  and  133,  provides  that  inmates  of  county 
jails  designated  as  workhouses,  and  of  workhouses,  shall  be  provided  with  tools  and  materials  for 
their  use  and  work ;  and  that  prisoners  under  conviction  of  felony,  or  under  sentence  exceeding 
three  months  for  misdemeanor,  may  be  compelled  to  work,  the  proceeds  or  profits  of  their  labor  to 
belong  to  the  county. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1891,  chap,  278,  and  acts  of  1893,  chap.  670  (Revised  Code  of  1893,  chap. 
54),  authorize  the  employment  of  convicts  in  New  Castle  County  in  quarrying  stone  suitable  for 
being  broken  into  macadam,  and  in  the  conversion  of  stone  into  macadam  for  use  in  improving  the 
public  roads  in  the  county. 

PUBLIC- WORKS- AND- WAYS  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1881,  chap.  550,  sec.  7  (Revised  Code  of  1893,  chap.  54), 
authorizes  the  employment  of  convicts  "upon  the  roads  or  any  public  works,"  in  case  contracts  can 
not  be  made  for  their  custody  and  maintenance  in  other  States. 

HOURS  or  LABOR. — Revised  Code  of  1893,  chap.  54,  provides  that  8  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's 
work  at  hard  labor,  to  be  performed  between  8  o'clock  a.  m.  and  5  o'clock  p.  m.,  for  convicts  in  the 
jail  or  workhouse  in  New  Castle  County. 

KINDS  OP  LABOR. — Quarrying  and  breaking  stone  into  macadam,  and  employment  upon  public 
works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods  or  diminishing  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Webb's  Digest,  p.  24,  authorizes  the  sale  of  manufactured  articles  and 
agricultural  products  produced  by  the  inmates  of  the  Washington  Asylum  and  Workhouse,  and  the 
purchase  of  raw  materials,  tools,  implements,  and  machinery  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect 
the  principle  that  employment  must  be  provided  for  all  inmates  of  the  institution  named  capable  of 
any  species  of  labor. 

Compiled  Statutes  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  chap.  33,  sec.  6,  provides  that  prisoners  in  the  jail 
may  be  employed  at  such  labor  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  proper  authorities,  the  proceeds  thereof 
to  be  applied  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  their  trial  and  conviction. 

Acts  of  1884-85,  chap.  145  (U.  S.  S.,  vol.  23,  p.  314),  authorizes  the  production  of  commodities  for  sale 
by  the  inmates  of  the  Reform-  -chool,  by  providing  that  the  revenue  derived  from  the  labor  of  the 
inmates  and  the  products  of  the  farm  shall  be  paid  into  the  United  States  Treasury. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict  labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  and  farming. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods  or  diminishing  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

FLORIDA. 

Revised  Statutes  of  1892,  sees.  2940  and  3057,  make  general  provision  for  the  employment  of  State 
and  county  convicts,  it  being  provided  that  State  convicts  sentenced  to  hard  labor  "shall  be  con- 
stantly employed  for  the  benefit  of  the  State,"  and  that  county  convicts  sentenced  to  hard  labor 
"may  be  employed  at  such  manual  labor  as  the  county  commissioners  may  direct." 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Sees.  3065  et  seq.  provide  for  the  making  of  contracts  with  any  person  for  the  labor, 
maintenance,  custody,  and  discipline  of  State  convicts,  for  a  term  of  years  not  exceeding  4.  In  case 
no  application  is  received  for  the  hire  of  the  prisoners,  the  State  may  pay  "  to  any  person  or  persons 
such  sums  of  money  for  taking  such  prisoners  on  such  conditions  as  may  be  deemed  advantageous  to 
the  interests  of  the  State." 


SUMMARY    OF    CONVICT-LABOR   LAWS.  145 

Sec.  3032,  idem.,  and  acts  of  1895,  chap.  4323,  authorize  the  hiring  out  or  otherwise  contracting  for 
the  labor  of  county  convicts,  upon  such  terms  and  conditions-  as  may  be  deemed  advisable. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Revised  Statutes  of  1892,  sec.  3032,  authorizes  the  employment 
of  county  convicts  "  at  labor  upon  the  streets  of  incorporated  cities  or  towns,  or  upon  the  roads, 
bridges,  and  public  works  in  the  several  counties  where  they  are  so  imprisoned." 

HOURS  OP  LABOK. — Sees.  3057  and  3065  provide  that  State  convicts  shall  labor  not  less  than  8  nor 
more  than  10  hours  per  day,  and  when  under  contract  shall  work  between  sunrise  and  sunset,  and 
not  be  required  to  labor  on  Sunday. 

Sec.  3033  provides  that  county  convicts  shall  not  be  required  to  work  more  than  10  hours  per  day. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR.— Employment  upon  public  works  and  ways.  The  kinds  of  labor  at  which  leased 
convicts  may  be  employed  are  not  specified. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  for  the  regulation  of  the  sale  of  convict- 
made  goods  or  for  diminishing  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

GEORGIA. 

LEASE  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1897,  No.  340,  sec.  10,  authorizes  the  leasing  of  any  number  of  State  convicts 
to  counties  or  to  municipal  corporations  for  not  less  than  $36  per  convict  per  year,  to  be  utilized  upon 
their  public  roads  or  works. 

Sees.  11  and  13  authorize  the  leasing  to  private  companies  or  persons,  for  terms  not  longer  than  5 
years,  of  all  State  convicts  not  employed  by  the  State  or  leased  to  counties  or  municipalities;  the 
hirer  to  furnish  transportation,  maintenance,  medicine,  clothing,  and  all  other  necessaries,  and  build- 
ings; the  convicts  must  be  leased  to  the  bidder  or  bidders  offering  the  highest  price  per  annum  per 
capita;  the  hirer  has  the  right  to  sublet  the  labor  of  the  convicts  leased  by  him. 

PUBLIC-ACCOTTNT  SYSTEM. — Sees.  1,  6,  and  8  create  a  prison  commission,  which  is  given  full  control 
of  State  convicts  and  general  supervision  of  misdemeanor  convicts,  and  is  authorized  to  establish  a 
State  convict  farm,  and  to  provide  for  the  employment  of  convicts  thereon  by  the  purchase  of 
machinery,  utensils,  live  stock,  and  other  necessary  equipments;  and  authorize  the  sale,  to  the  best 
advantage,  of  surplus  products  of  the  penitentiary. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  8  authorizes  the  use  of  surplus  products  of  the  penitentiary  by  State  insti- 
tutions. 

Penal  Code  of  1895,  sees.  1144  and  1145,  authorize  the  employment  of  county  convicts  in  quarrying 
or  gathering  rock  or  gravel  or  other  material  for  use  in  the  improvement  of  county  or  municipal 
roads  or  streets. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS-SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  No.  340,  sees.  9,  10,  and  13,  authorize  the  employ- 
ment of  convicts  leased  under  prior  laws,  the  control  of  whom  has  been  resumed  by  the  State,  in 
erecting  buildings,  stockades,  and  appurtenances  on  the  convict  farm,  or  in  such  other  labor  as  may 
be  deemed  profitable,  and  the  hiring  by  counties  or  municipal  corporations  of  State  convicts,  to  be 
employed  upon  their  public  roads  or  works. 

Penal  Code  of  1895,  sees.  1039, 1137-1139,  and  1143,  provide  for  the  working  of  misdemeanor  convicts 
on  public  works  or  roads,  and  for  the  hiring  of  county  convicts  from  other  counties  to  be  so  worked. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR.— Acts  of  1897,  No.  340,  sec.  6,  provides  that  the  hours  of  labor  of  State  convicts 
shall  be  regulated  by  the  prison  commission. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Quarrying  and  gathering  rock  and  gravel  for  use  on  roads  and  streets:  employ- 
ment on  the  State  convict  farm  and  on  public  works  and  ways.  The  kinds  of  labor  at  which  leased 
convicts  may  be  employed  are  not  specified. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

Acts  of  1897,  No.  340,  sec.  11,  provide  that  leased  convicts  shall  be  employed,  as  far  as  they  can  con- 
sistently with  the  best  interests  of  the  State, so  "that  the  products  of  their  labor  shall  come  least  in 
competition  with  that  of  free  labor." 

Penal  Code  of  1895,  sec.  1039,  stipulates  that  county  authorities  are  not  authorized  to  employ  misde- 
meanor convicts  "in  such  mechanical  pursuit  as  will  bring  the  products  of  their  labor  into  competi- 
tion with  the  products  of  free  labor." 

IDAHO. 

LEASE  SYSTEM.— Act  approved  Mar.  6, 1893  (acts  of  1893, p.  155), authorizes  the  State  prison  commis- 
sioners to  contract  with  responsible  persons  for  the  care,  maintenance,  and  employment  of  all  State 
convicts,  such  employment  to  be  within  the  prison  limits. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— The  same  act  authorizes  the  State  prison  commissioners  to  provide  for 
the  employment  of  State  convicts  within  the  confines  [of  the  penitentiary  "  by  direct  expenditures." 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— Constitution,  art.  13,  sec.  3,  authorizes  the  employment  of  State 
convicts  "on  public  works  under  the  direct  control  of  the  State,"  and  act  of  Feb.  3, 1891,  sec.  7 
(acts  of  1891,  p.  22),  authorizes  the  employment  of  such  convicts  upon  the  buildings  and  grounds  of 
the  penitentiary  in  making  improvements  and  repairs. 

Act  approved  March  9, 1895  (acts  of  1895,  p.  100),  provides  that  male  prisoners  over  18  years  of  age  in 
county  jails  shall  be  required  to  labor  in  and  about  the  county  jail  and  court-house  for  the  "  better- 
ment, improvement,  cleanliness,  or  maintenance  "  of  said  buildings  or  their  grounds. 
250A— VOL  III 10 


146  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — This  act  also  provides  that  county  convicts  upon  public  works  shall  be  employed 
not  to  exceed  8  hours  per  day,  Sundays  and  holidays  excepted, 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Employment  npon  public  works.  The  kinds  of  labor  at  which  convicts  may  be 
employed  under  the  lease  and  public  accounts  system  are  not  specified. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

Act  of  March  6, 1893  (acts  of  1893,  p.  155),  provides  that  no  contract  shall  be  made  permitting  the  use 
of  convict  labor  in  any  industry  that  will  "  conflict  with  any  existing  manufacturing  industries  in 
the  State." 

ILLINOIS. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Annotated  Statutes  of  1896,  chap.  108,  sec.  19,  authorizes  the  employment 
of  penitentiary  convicts  in  manufacturing,  under  the  direction  of  the  warden;  the  articles  manu- 
factured to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

Chap.  67,  sec.  13,  indirectly  authorizes  the  remunerative  employment  of  inmates  of  houses  of  cor- 
rection by  making  provision  for  the  expenses  of  maintaining  such  institutions  "  over  and  above  all 
receipts  for  the  labor  of  the  persons  confined  therein." 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Chap.  108,  sec.  61,  authorizes  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  in 
quarrying  stone  for  the  use  of  the  State. 

PUBLIC- WORKS- AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— Chap.  108,  sees.  27  and  54,  authorizes  the  use  of  the  labor  of  State 
convicts  upon  the  penitentiary  buildings  and  grounds  or  other  public  works,  so  far  as  the  labor  can 
be  advantageously  performed  at  the  penitentiary. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Chap.  108,  sec.  13,  provides  that  the  hours  of  labor  of  State  convicts  shall  be 
determined  by  the  penitentiary  commissioners. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  employment  upon  public  works  and  in  quarrying  stone. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

The  fourth  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  adopted  November  2, 1886,  prohibits  the  letting,  by  con' 
tract,  of  the  labor  of  any  convict  confined  in  a  penitentiary  or  reformatory  institution  in  the  State  to 
any  person. 

INDIANA. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  387,  sec.  1,  requires  that  inmates  of  State  penal  and 
reformatory  institutions  be  placed  at  employment  for  account  of  the  State,  and  directs  the  establish- 
ment of  the  public-account  system. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  187,  provides  for  the  employment  of  inmates  of  State  penal 
and  reformatory  institutions  at  such  trades  and  vocations  as  the  convicts  are  adapted  to,  and  as  will 
supply  said  institutions,  as  nearly  as  possible,  with  all  necessary  articles  of  prison  consumption;  sur- 
plus products  are  to  be  sold  to  other  State  institutions  needing  the  same. 

Annotated  Statutes  of  1894,  sec.  8221,  provides  that  materials  for  building  and  repairs  of  the  State 
prison  shall  be  manufactured  in  the  penitentiary. 

Sec.  8235  authorizes  the  employment  of  convicts  in  the  State  prison  in  Clark  County  in  chopping 
wood  or  timber  for  the  use  of  the  prison,  in  making  brick,  or  in  other  labor  on  State  land  near  the 
prison,  and  in  the  cultivation  of  any  fields  or  grounds  that  may  be  leased  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
vegetable  products  for  the  use  of  the  prison. 

Sec.  8250  provides  that  convicts  in  the  southern  State  prison  may  be  employed  in  manufacturing 
arms,  implements,  goods,  and  munitions  of  war  needed  in  defense  of  the  State,  or  for  the  use  of  State 
troops. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— Sees.  1935  and  4194  provide  that  male  inmates  of  county,  town, 
and  city  jails  may  be  put  at  hard  labor  on  public  wharves,  streets,  alleys,  or  other  thoroughfares,  or 
upon  public  roads  or  highways,  01  any  other  work  or  improvement  within  the  county  for  the  public 
good  or  benefit. 

Sec.  8334  provides  that  inmates  of  workhouses  shall  be  kept  at  hard  labor,  as  far  as  may  be  con- 
sistent with  their  age,  sex,  and  ability,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  deemed  most  advantageous,  in  or 
about  the  workhouse  or  upon  any  public  wharf,  street,  alley,  highway,  thoroughfare,  or  other  work 
or  public  improvement  within  the  county,  or  at  such  work  or  in  such  manner  as  may  be  deemed 
best. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  187,  provides  that  the  hours  of  labor  in  State  prisons  and 
reformatories  shall  not  exceed  8  hours  per  day,  "subject  to  temporary  changes  under  necessity  or  to 
fit  special  cases." 

Annotated  Statutes  of  1894,  sec.  3502,  provides  that  persons  committed  to  city  workhouses  or  county 
jails  for  certain  offenses  shall  be  required  to  labor  not  less  than  6  nor  more  than  10  hours  per  day. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  production  of  material  for  repairing  and  building 
State  prisons,  arms,  implements, goods,  and  munitions  of  war,  and  brick;  chopping  wood  and  timber; 
farming,  and  employment  upon  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1895,  chap.  162.  prohibits  the  sale  or  exposing  for  sale  of  convict- 
made  goods  manufactured  in  other  States  by  any  person,  without  first  obtaining  a  license  to  sell  such 


SUMMARY    OF    CONVICT-LABOR    LAWS.  147 

goods,  for  which  $500  per  year  must  be  paid;  the  dealer  is  required  to  make  a  detailed  annual  report 
of  his  transactions  in  such  goods;  all  such  goods  before  being  exposed  for  sale  shall  be  branded  or 
marked  with  the  words  "convict-made"  followed  by  the  year  and  the  name  of  the  institution  in 
which  made,  in  plain  English  lettering,  of  the  style  known  as  great  primer  roman  capitals,  upon  the 
outside  of,  and  the  most  conspicuous  part  of,  the  finished  article,  and  its  box,  crate,  or  covering. 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  187,  abolishes  the  contract  system  in  State  penal  and  reformatory  institutions, 
and  renders  it  unlawful  to  hire  out,  under  contract,  any  of  the  inmates  of  such  institutions;  and 
directs  that  all  work  done  by  inmates  of  such  institutions  shall,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  hand  work. 

IOWA. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Code  of  1897,  sec.  5702,  authorizes  the  making  of  contracts  for  the  labor  of  con- 
victs confined  in  the  State  penitentiary  at  Fort  Madison,  for  terms  of  not  longer  than  10  years. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Sec.  5691  authorizes  the  carrying  on  of  branches  of  labor  and  manufac- 
tures in  the  penitentiaries,  under  the  superintendence  of  overseers  having  suitable  knowledge  and 
skill,  who  may  be  employed  for  the  purpose  of  such  superintendence;  the  management,  superintend- 
ence, and  guarding  of  the  convicts  to  be  in  accordance  with  prescribed  rules  and  regulations,  or  under 
the  direction  of  the  warden. 

Sec.  5707  provides  that  the  surplus  stone  produced  by  convict  labor  in  the  State  stone  quarries,  not 
used  by  the  State,  shall  be  made  into  macadam  and  disposed  of  in  such  manner  as  may  be  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  State. 

Sees.  5654  and  5655  provide  that  county,  city,  or  town  prisoners  may  be  furnished  tools  and  mate- 
rials to  work  with,  their  earnings  to  belong  to  the  county,  city,  or  town  at  whose  expense  they  were 
supplied  with  tools  and  materials. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sees.  5707  and  5708  authorize  the  employment  of  State  convicts  in  the  State  stone 
quarries,  and  in  breaking  with  hammers  stone  not  used  by  the  State  for  building  purposes,  for  use  in 
improving  and  macadamizing  streets  and  highways ;  such  broken  stone  to  be  furnished  free  of  charge, 
except  for  transportation,  to  any  county,  township,  town,  city,  or  road  district  needing  it. 

PUBLIC- WORKS- AND-W AYS  SYSTEM. — Sees. 5653  and  5660  authorize  the  employment  of  county  or  city 
convicts  upon  the  streets,  roads,  public  buildings,  and  grounds  of  the  county  or  city  where  confined. 

Sec.  5707  authorizes  the  employment  of  State  convict  labor,  when  not  otherwise  employed,  in  the 
improvement  and  macadamizing  of  streets  and  highways. 

HOURS  OP  LABOR. — Sees.  5653  and  5660  limit  the  employment  of  county  and  city  prisoners  upon 
public  works  and  ways  to  8  hours  per  day. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  ;  stone  quarrying,  and  breaking  stone  with  hammers  ;  and  em- 
ployment upon  public  woiks  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 


Code  of  1897,  sees.  5654  and  5707,  prohibit  the  leasing  of  State  or  county  convicts. 

KANSAS. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1891,  chap.  152,  sees.  34,  35,  and  39,  authorize  the  making  of  contracts 
for  hiring  out  the  labor  of  State  convicts  for  terms  not  exceeding  6  years,  to  the  highest  bidder,  at 
not  less  than  45  cents  per  day  per  convict;  the  State  retaining  full  control  over  the  convicts,  and 
their  labor  to  be  performed  within  the  prison  grounds. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1891,  chap.  152,  sec.  41,  provides  that  coal  mined  by  State  convicts  in 
State  coal  mines  shall  be  used  by  the  penitentiary,  statehouse,  insane  asylum,  and  other  State 
institutions, 

General  Statutes  of  1889,  sees.  5426  and  5427,  provide  for  the  employment  of  county  convicts  in 
breaking  stone  to  be  used  in  macadamizing  streets  and  roads,  and  the  use  of  such  broken  stone  as 
can  not  be  sold  "for  the  improvement  of  some  designated  road  or  street." 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1891,  chap.  152,  sec.  8,  provides  that  the  warden  of  the  peniten- 
tiary shall  use  proper  means  to  furnish  employment  to  State  convicts  most  beneficial  to  the  public, 
and  shall  superintend  any  manufacturing,  mining,  or  other  business  carried  on  in  or  about  the  peni- 
tentiary, and  shall  sell  or  dispose  of  articles  produced  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

Sees.  40  and  41,  idem,  and  acts  of  1897,  chap.  163,  sec.  2,  authorize  the  employment  of  penitentiary 
convicts  not  otherwise  employed  in  mining  coal,  the  surplus  not  required  for  use  in  State  institutions 
to  be  sold  to  the  general  public. 

General  Statutes  of  1889,  sec.  5427,  authorizes  the  sale  of  broken  stone  produced  by  the  labor  of 
county  convicts. 

PUBLIC- WORKS-AND- WAYS-SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1891,  chap.  152,  sec.  43,  authorizes  the  use  of  such  State 
convict  labor  as  may  be  necessary  in  keeping  in  repair  the  road  from  the  penitentiary  to  the  limits 
of  the  city  of  Leaven  worth. 

General  Statutes  of  1889,  sec.  5428,  authorizes  the  employment  of  such  county  convicts  as  may  so 
desire  to  work  upon  the  public  highways  of  the  county. 

HOURS  OP  LABOR. — Acts  of  1891,  chap.  152,  sec.  39,  provides  that  the  hours  of  labor  of  State  convicts 
employed  under  the  contract  system  shall  be  10  hours  per  day. 


148  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing;  farming;  coal  mining  and  work  on  public  highways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  163,  prohibits  the  making  of  any  contract  for  the  sale 
of  coal  produced  in  State  coal  mines  by  convict  labor  not  required  for  use  in  State  institutions;  but 
authorizes  the  sale  of  such  coal  as  may  not  be  so  required,  under  the  direction  of  the  board  of 
directors  of  the  penitentiary. 

The  statutes  contain  no  provision  tending  to  diminish  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

KENTUCKY. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1898,  chap.  4,  sees.  13, 15,  and  17,  provide  for  the  making  of  contracts  for 
the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts  with  one  or  more  contractors,  the  hiring  to  be  per  capita,  for  a 
term  of  not  more  than  4  years,  with  privilege  of  renewal;  the  contractor  shall  be  entitled  to  the  use 
of  the  various  shops  belonging  to  the  State  and  the  power  therein;  the  various  prisoners  hired  shall 
remain  under  prison  police  and  government;  the  contractor  may  be  permitted  to  introduce  such 
machinery  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  conduct  of  his  business  or  manufacturing  in  the  prison. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Statutes  of  1894,  sees.  4870  and  4871,  provide  that  county  workhouses,  and  the  labor 
of  the  inmates,  may  be  leased  for  a  period  of  not  more  than  one  year,  the  lessee  to  have  the  same 
power  and  to  discharge  the  same  duties  as  if  he  were  manager  of  the  workhouse;  or,  inmates  of  work- 
houses may  be  hired  out  to  individuals  for  all  or  any  part  of  their  terms,  the  lessee  to  provide  for  their 
maintenance  in  addition  to  the  agreed  price  of  hire. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1898,  chap.  4,  sees.  3,  5,  and  16,  provide  that  State  convicts  not 
employed  under  the  contract  system  shall  be  employed  at  such  useful  labor  as  can  be  profitably  con- 
ducted within  the  prison  walls. 

The  wardens  are  directed  to  purchase  necessary  materials  and  supplies  for  the  employment  of  the 
convicts,  and  to  make  report  "  of  all  articles  of  manufacture,  and  other  things  made  or  fabricated  in 
the  penitentiary,  by  the  labor  of  the  prisoners,  when  the  same  are  sold  from  time  to  time." 

Acts  of  1898,  chapter  35,  provides  that  inmates  of  houses  of  reform  shall  be  employed  in  useful  labor, 
the  proceeds  thereof  to  be  used  in  reducing  the  expenses  of  the  institutions. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  sec.  253,  authorizes  the  legislature  to  provide  for 
the  employment  of  convicts  upon  public  works. 

Statutes  of  1894,  sees.  1379  and  4322,  provide  for  the  employment  of  inmates  of  county  jails  and  work- 
houses upon  public  highways  in  their  respective  counties;  or  upon  public  works  of  the  counties,  or  of 
any  city  or  town  therein. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Sec.  1380,  provides  that  prisoners  in  county  jails  "shall  not  be  required  to  labor 
more  than  8  hours  a  day." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing;  and  employment  on  public  work  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Statutes  of  1894,  sees.  524,  525,  and  526,  provide  that  110  goods  produced  by 
convict  labor  outside  of  Kentucky  shall  be  sold  or  offered  for  sale  without  being  branded  or  marked 
with  the  words  "  convict  made,"  followed  by  the  year  and  the  name  of  the  institution  in  which  made, 
in  plain  English  lettering,  of  the  style  and  size  known  as  great  primer  roman  condensed  capitals; 
such  brand  or  label  shall  be  placed  upon  the  most  conspicuous  part  of  the  article,  or  its  covering,  if 
impossible  to  place  it  upon  the  article. 

Constitution,  sees.  253  and  254,  prohibit  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  outside  of  prison 
walls,  except  upon  public  ways  and  works. 

LOUISIANA. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Constitution  of  1898,  art.  196,  prohibits  the  leasing  of  convicts  to  work  anywhere 
except  on  public  works  or  convict  farms,  or  in  manufactories  owned  or  controlled  by  the  State;  the 
provision  to  go  into  effect  after  the  expiration  of  the  existing  lease.  This  implies  the  contract  sys- 
tem as  permissible. 

LEASE  SYSTEM.— Revised  Laws  of  1870,  edition  of  1897,  act  No.  114  of  1890,  and  act  No.  134  of  1894, 
sees.  2855  and  2865,  authorize  the  leasing  of  State  convicts,  to  be  employed  in  such  manufacturing, 
mechanical,  or  other  labor  as  the  lessees  may  deem  proper;  the  convicts  may  be  employed  by  the 
lessees  in  working  on  levees,  railroads,  or  other  works  of  public  improvement;  or  if  such  employ- 
ment for  them  can  not  be  obtained,  they  may  be  employed  on  plantation  or  farm  work  or  at  any 
other  employment.  The  subleasing  of  leased  convicts  is  forbidden. 

Act  No.  29  of  1894  provides  that  services  of  parish  convicts  may  be  hired  or  leased  for  the  purpose 
of  working  them  within  the  parish. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— Act  No.  38  of  1878,  and  Constitution  of  1898,  art.  292,  provide 
that  convicts  sentenced  to  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  may  be  sentenced  to  labor  on  the  public 
works,  roads,  or  streets  of  the  city  or  parish  in  which  the  crime  was  committed. 

Act  No.  121  of  1888  and  act  No.  29  of  1894  provide  for  the  working  of  parish  convicts  on  roads,  levees, 
or  other  public  work  or  farm  under  the  direction  of  the  parish  authorities. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR.— Act  No.  38  of  1878,  act  No.  121  of  1888,  and  act  No.  29  of  1894  provide  that  10 
hours  shall  constitute  a  day's  labor  for  leased  parish  convicts,  or  of  convicts  employed  under  the 
direction  of  parish  authorities. 


SUMMARY   OF   CONVICT-LABOR    LAWS.  149 

Act  No.  134  of  1894  provides  that  State  convicts  working  under  lease,  at  agricultural  pursuits,  shall 
not  be  worked  beyond  the  hours  of  labor  usually  devoted  to  farm  work. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries;  on  railroads,  levees,  farms,  and  plan- 
tations; and  on  public  ways  and  works. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Act  No.  132  of  1894  requires  that  convict-made  brooms  shall  not  be  dealt 
In  or  sold  unless  each  broom  is  stamped  or  labeled  "  convict  made; "  said  stamp  or  label  is  required 
to  be  "  not  less  than  4  inches  long  and  2i  inches  wide  and  the  letters  thereof  not  less  than  1  inch  in 
size." 

MAINE. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Revised  Statutes  of  1883,  chap. 80, sec. 29,  authorizes  the  making  of  "necessary 
and  proper  contracts  for  the  carrying  on  of  manufacturing  or  other  industry "  in  county  jails  in 
behalf  of  the  county. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Chap.  140,  sec.  19,  appears  to  authorize  the  lease  system  by  authorizing  the  making 
of  such  contracts  for  "the  letting  to  hire  of  such  of  the  convicts  [in  the  State  prison]  as  the  inspectors 
may  deem  expedient." 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Chap.  140,  sees.  8,  19,  and  29,  provide  that  reports  of  "the  amount  of 
manufactures  of  each  kind,  and  of  all  other  articles,  sold  from  the  (State)  prison,"  shall  be  annually 
made  to  the  legislature;  that  "all  sales  of  limestone,  granite,  and  other  articles  from  the  prison" 
shall  be  made  by  the  warden ;  and  that  persons  having  suitable  knowledge  and  skill  in  the  branches 
of  labor  and  the  manufactures  carried  on  in  the  prison  shall,  when  practicable,  be  employed  as 
superintendents. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Chap.  78,  sec.  13,  as  amended  by  acts  of  1889,  chap.  288,  provides  that  suitable 
materials  and  implements  shall  be  provided,  sufficient  to  keep  inmates  of  jails  at  work  ;  and  that 
convicted  tramps  shall  be  put  to  labor  at  breaking  stone  for  use  in  building  and  repairing  highways. 

HOURS  OP  LABOR.— Revised  Statutes  of  1883,  chap.  128,  sec.  17,  as  amended  by  acts  of  1889,  chap.  288, 
provides  that  tramps  confined  at  hard  labor  in  county  jails  shall  be  required  to  work  10  hours 
each  day. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  manufacture  and  repair  of  all  kinds  of  wagons, 
carriages,  and  sleighs,  breaking  stone,  and  quarrying  or  dressing  granite. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1887,  chap.  149,  sec.  4,  requires  that  all  articles  or  goods  manu- 
factured at  the  State  prison  for  sale  shall  be  distinctly  labeled  or  branded  with  the  words  "  Manu- 
factured at  the  Maine  State  prison." 

Sees.  1,  2,  and  3  provide  that  no  more  than  20  per  cent  of  the  male  convicts  in  the  State  prison 
shall  be  employed  at  one  time  in  any  one  industry,  or  in  the  manufacture  of  any  one  kind  of  goods 
which  are  manufactured  elsewhere  in  the  State ;  and  that  the  manufacture  and  repair  of  all  kinds  of 
wagons,  carriages,  and  sleighs,  except  the  manufacture  of  infant  carriages,  shall  be  considered  one 
industry ;  also  that  "so  far  as  practicable,  the  industries  upon  which  said  convicts  shall  be  employed 
shall  be  the  manufacture  of  articles  not  elsewhere  manufactured  in  the  State." 

MARYLAND. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Public  General  Laws,  sec.  406,  authorizes  the  directors  of  the  State  penitentiary 
to  enter  into  such  contracts  as  they  may  deem  proper  for  the  employment  of  the  convicts  therein. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  315  provides  that  inmates  of  the  house  of  correction  shall  be  kept  at  some  use- 
ful employment,  and  that  they  may  be  "hired  out  for  such  useful  employment  as  may  be  best  suited 
to  his  or  her  age  and  most  profitable  to  the  institution." 

Sec.  319  authorizes  the  hiring  of  convicts  in  the  house  of  correction  to  a  canal  company,  the  con- 
victs to  be  clothed,  fed,  and  guarded  by  the  managers  of  the  institution. 

Acts  of  1890,  chap.  529,  authorizes  the  hiring  out,  for  some  useful  employment,  of  persons  sentenced 
to  the  Dorchester  County  jail. 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Public  General  Laws,  sees.  406  and  425,  provide  that  State  penitentiary 
convicts  shall  be  put  to  hard  labor,  at  such  employment  as  will  be  most  advantageous,  and  author- 
ize the  making  of  contracts  for  the  sale  of  the  products  of  their  labor. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — The  laws  of  this  State  contain  several  special  statutes  that 
authorize  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  county  jails  vrpon  public  roads,  streets,  and  alleys  in  par- 
ticular counties. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1892,  chap.  624,  provides  for  the  employment  of  persons  convicted  of 
assault,  drunkenness,  disorderly  conduct  or  vagrancy,  in  Carroll  County,  in  the  breaking  of  stone 
to  be  used  on  public  thoroughfares. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict  labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR.— Manufacturing,  breaking  stone,  employment  upon  public  works  and  ways,  and 
canal  construction. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

Acts  of  1890,  chap.  590,  prohibits  the  making  of  any  contract  for  the  manufacture,  with  the  labor 
of  penitentiary  convicts,  of  tin  cans  for  oyster  or  fruit  packing  purposes,  or  iron  heating  or  cooking 
stoves,  or  iron  castings  used  for  machinery  purposes. 


150  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  434,  makes  all  laws  relating  to  convict  labor  in  the  State  prison,  reformatories, 
and  houses  of  correction  applicable  to  the  labor  of  convicts  in  jails  and  at  the  State  farm. 

CONTRACT  AND  THE  PIECE-PRICE  SYSTEMS. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  412,  sec.  3,  authorizes  the  employment 
of  convicts  under  the  contract  system  or  under  the  piece-price  system  in  the  industry  of  cane  seating 
and  in  the  manufacture  of  umbrellas. 

(The  contract  system  had  previously  been  abolished  by  section  1,  chap.  447,  acts  of  1887.) 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Public  Statutes  of  1882,  chap.  219,  sec.  23,  provides  that  contracts  may  be  made  for 
the  employment  at  domestic  service  of  the  female  inmates  of  a  jail,  house  of  correction,  or  female 
reformatory  for  such  terms  and  upon  such  conditions  as  may  be  deemed  fit,  such  hiring  to  be  made 
with  the  consent  of  the  woman  hired. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1887,  chap.  447,  sec.  3,  and  acts  of  1888,  chap.  403,  provide  for  the 
purchase  of  tools,  implements,  and  machinery  to  be  used  in  employing  prisoners  in  penal  and 
reformatory  institutions,  the  manufactured  articles  to  be  sold  for  the  public  benefit. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1898,  chap.  334,  sec.  13,  and  acts  of  1887,  chap.  447,  require  that,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  products  of  convict  labor  shall  be  articles  and  materials  used  in  the  public  institutions 
n  the  State  and  the  counties  thereof,  to  be  sold  to  such  institutions. 

Acts  of  1898,  chap.  365,  authorizes  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  any  jail  or  house  of  correction  in 
the  preparation  of  materials  for  road  making,  to  be  sold  to  county,  city,  or  town  officers  having  the 
care  of  public  roads. 

Acts  of  1898,  chap.  393,  provides  that  inmates  of  jails  and  reformatories  may  be  employed  in  reclaiming 
and  improving  waste  and  unused  land  belonging  to  the  State,  and  in  preparing,  by  hand  labor, 
material  for  road  building,  to  be  sold  to  State,  county,  city,  or  town  authorities. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1898,  chap.  307,  provides  that  prisoners  in  the  reforma- 
tory for  males  may  be  employed  upon  lands  or  buildings  owned  by  the  State. 

Acts  of  1885,  chap.  94,  provides  that  prisoners  in  the  reformatory  prison  for  women  may  be  employed 
upon  land  appurtenant  to  the  prison,  or  in  buildings  thereon. 

Public  Statutes  of  1882,  chap.  220,  sec.  4,  provides  that  convicts  in  jails  may  be  employed  upon  the 
public  lands  and  buildings  belonging  to  the  counties. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  hours  of  convict  labor  are  not  regulated  by  statute. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  manufacture  of  cane,  rattan,  and  rush  chairs, 
clothing,  shirts,  hosiery,  harness,  mats,  shoes,  shoe  heels,  brushes,  umbrellas,  and  trunks;  stonecutting; 
laundry  work;  domestic  service  by  women;  cane  seating;  reclaiming  and  improving  waste  and  unused 
public  land;  preparation  of  road  material;  employment  on  public  buildings  and  land. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  412,  sec.  3,  prohibits  the  employment  of  convicts  under 
the  contract  or  piece-price  systems,  except  in  the  industry  of  cane  seating  and  in  the  manufacture  of 
umbrellas. 

Acts  of  1898,  chap.  334,  sec.  5,  provides  that  the  prices  of  products  of  convict  labor,  used  in  public 
institutions,  "  shall  be  uniform,  and  shall  conform,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  to  the  usual  market  price  of 
like  goods  manufactured  in  other  places." 

Acts  of  1898,  chaps.  365  and  393,  require  that  only  machines  operated  by  foot  or  hand  power  shall  be 
used  in  the  preparation  of  material  for  road  making,  and  that  convicts  in  camp  on  certain  State 
lands  shall  be  employed  in  preparing  such  material  by  hand  labor. 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  412,  prescribes  that  no  goods  produced  by  convict  labor  shall  be  sold,  except  for 
use  in  public  institutions,  for  less  than  the  wholesale  market  price  prevailing  at  the  time  of  sale  for 
similar  goods ;  also,  that  the  number  of  inmates  in  all  the  prisons  of  the  State  who  may  be  employed 
in  the  production  of  certain  commodities,  not  for  use  in  public  institutions,  shall  not  exceed  the 
number  below  specified  :  Brushes,  80 ;  clothing,  other  than  shirts  or  hosiery,  375 ;  harness,  50  ;  mats, 
20 ;  cane  chairs  with  wood  frames,  80 ;  rattan  chairs,  75 ;  rush  chairs,  75 ;  shirts,  by  women  only,  80 ; 
shoes,  375 ;  shoe  heels,  125 ;  trunks,  20 ;  stonecutting,  150 ;  at  laundry  work,  100. 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  412,  as  amended  by  chap.  480,  prescribes  that  not  more  than  30  per  cent  of  the 
number  of  inmates  of  any  penal  institution  having  more  than  100  inmates  shall  be  employed  in  any 
one  industry,  except  in  the  production  of  goods  for  use  in  State  institutions  and  in  the  industry  of 
cane  seating  and  in  the  manufacture  of  umbrellas. 

Acts  of  1891,  chap.  209,  prohibits  the  employment  of  any  prisoner  in  a  State  institution,  outside  the 
precincts  of  such  institution,  in  mechanical  or  skilled  labor  for  private  persons. 

Acts  of  1888,  chap.  189,  prohibits  the  employment  of  convicts  in  the  State  prison  in  engraving  of 
any  kind. 

Acts  of  1887,  chap.  447,  provides  that  no  new  machinery  to  be  propelled  by  other  than  hand  or  foot 
power  shall  be  used  in  the  State  prison,  reformatories,  and  houses  of  correction,  and  that  articles 
manufactured  therein  shall  be  sold  at  the  wholesale  market  prices  of  similar  goods. 

Resolves  of  1898,  chap.  81,  provides  for  the  erection  of  shops  at  the  State  prison  in  which  con- 
victs may  be  employed  upon  industries  that  can  be  prosecuted  by  hand  labor. 

MICHIGAN. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1893,  No.  118,  makes  provision  for  the  employment  of  convicts  in  the 
State  prisons  and  State  house  of  correction  and  reformatory,  superseding  previous  laws  that  provided 
for  the  contract  system,  and  in  effect  doing  away  with  that  system,  but  providing  that  existing  con- 


SUMMARY    OF    CONVICT-LABOR    LAWS.  151 

tracts  made  under  prior  laws  shall  not  be  affected.  Inasmuch  as  contracts  for  convict  labor  were 
authorized  by  prior  law  for  periods  of  10  years,  and  may  have  been  made  just  prior  to  the  adoption 
of  the  act  of  1893,  the  contract  system  may  still  be  in  operation  in  these  institutions. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1893,  No.  118,  sees.  9  and  31,  authorize  the  wardens  of  the  State 
prisons  and  the  State  house  of  correction  and  reformatory  to  superintend  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  business  carried  on  therein,  and  to  sell  the  products  of  convicts'  labor  for  the  benefit  of 
the  State. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  35,  idem.,  requires  the  employment  of  "so  many  prisoners  in  either  prison 
(including  the  State  prisons,  reformatory,  and  house  of  correction)  as  are  necessary  in  making  all 
articles  for  the  various  State  institutions,  as  far  as  practicable,"  the  institutions  using  such  articles  to 
pay  the  institution  making  them  therefor. 

Howell's  Annotated  Statutes,  sec.  9710,  authorizes  the  employment  of  convicts  in  the  State  prison 
"in  quarrying  stone  or  other  labor  useful  in  the  erection  or  repair  of  the  building  or  walls  of  the 
prison." 

PUBLIC- WORKS-AND- WAYS  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1893,  No.  118,  sec.  31,  authorizes  the  employment  of  inmates 
of  the  State  prison,  reformatory,  and  house  of  correction  in  the  erection  or  repair  of  the  buildings  or 
walls  of  those  institutions. 

Howell's  Annotated  Statutes,  sec.  9643,  authorizes  the  employment  of  inmates  of  county  jails  "on 
any  of  the  public  avenues,  streets,  or  highways,  or  other  works  in  the  county  where  such  prisoner  is 
confined,  or  in  any  of  the  adjoining  counties." 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Acts  of  1893,  No.  118,  sec.  38,  directs  that  able-bodied  convicts  in  the  State 
prisons,  house  of  correction,  and  reformatory  '  'shall  as  far  as  practicable  be  kept  constantly  employed 
at  hard  labor  at  an  average  of  not  less  than  10  hours  per  day,  Sundays  excepted." 

Howell's  Annotated  Statutes,  sec.  9642,  directs  that  inmates  of  county  jails  sentenced  to  hard  labor, 
for  whom  any  mode  of  labor  shall  be  provided,  shall  be  "kept  constantly  employed  during  every  day 
except  Sunday." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries,  coal  mining,  stone  quarrying,  farm- 
ing, and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

Constitution,  art.  18,  sec.  3,  provides  that  no  mechanical  trade  shall  be  taught  to  convicts  in  State 
prisons,  except  in  the  "manufacture  of  those  articles  of  which  the  chief  supply  for  home  consump- 
tion is  imported  from  other  States  or  countries." 

Acts  of  1893,  No.  118,  sec.  3,  provides  that  once  in  6  months  the  prison  boards  shall  determine  what 
lines  of  productive  industry  shall  be  pursued  in  the  State  prisons,  house  of  correction,  and  reforma- 
tory, and  shall  select  such  diversified  lines  of  industry  as  will  least  interfere  with  the  carrying  on  of 
such  industries  by  the  citizens  of  the  State. 

MINNESOTA. 

PIECE-PRICE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1895,  chap.  154,  sec.  4,  authorizes  the  manufacture  of  articles  in  the 
State  prison  or  State  reformatory  "  by  the  piece  under  what  is  known  as  the  piece-price  system,  by 
contracts  with  persons  who  furnish  the  materials  used  in  such  manufacture." 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  AND  STATE-USE  SYSTEMS. — Acts  of  1895,  chap.  154,  provides  that  inmates  of  the 
State  prison  or  reformatory  shall  be  regularly  employed  and  compelled  to  perform  a  reasonable 
amount  of  labor  in  some  industrial  employment ;  that  necessary  tools,  implements,  and  machines 
shall  be  purchased  for  carrying  on  the  industries  of  the  institutions ;  and  that  such  articles  shall  be 
manufactured,  so  far  as  possible,  as  are  in  common  use  in  the  various  State  institutions,  to  be  sold  to  or 
exchanged  between  such  institutions ;  but  the  products  of  convict  labor  may  be  sold  in  any  market 
that  can  be  found. 

General  Statutes  of  1894,  sec.  3598,  provides  that  prisoners  in  the  State  reformatory  may  be  employed 
in  quarrying,  manufacturing,  and  cutting  granite,  either  for  sale  or  for  public  use. 

Sec.  7426,  provides  for  the  purchase  of  tools  and  materials  to  be  used  in  the  employment  of  prisoners 
in  county  jails,  within  jail  limits,  whenever  and  however  it  may  be  deemed  practicable  by  the  county 
commissioners,  such  labor  to  be  compulsory  for  convicts  and  optional  for  prisoners  held  for  trial. 

PUBLIC-WORKS- AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  127,  provides  that  able-bodied  male  prisoners 
in  county  or  village  jails  may  be  required  to  labor  upon  the  public  streets  or  highways,  or  in  or  about 
public  buildings  or  grounds,  or  at  other  public  places  in  the  county  in  which  they  are  confined. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Sec.  2,  idem,  provides  that  prisoners  in  county  jails  shall  not  be  required  to 
abor  upon  public  works  and  ways  exceeding  10  hours  per  day. 

General  Statutes  of  1894,  sec. 3598,  provides  that  "no  convict  shall  be  obliged  to  labor  at  stonecut- 
ting  and  stonework  more  than  8  hours  per  day." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  manufacture  of  hard  fiber  twine;  quarrying  and 
cutting  granite,  and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— The  statutes  make  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made  goods. 

Acts  of  1895,  chap.  15,  sec.  4,  provides  that  "  no  contracts  for  the  leasing  of  the  labor  of  prisoners 
confined  in  the  State  prison,  or  State  reformatory,  at  a  certain  rate  per  diem,  giving  the  contractor  full 
control  of  the  labor  of  the  prisoners,  shall  hereafter  be  made." 


'152  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

Sec.  8  provides  that  the  number  of  prisoners  in  the  State  prison  or  reformatory  employed  in  a 
single  industry  at  the  same  time  shall  not  exceed  10  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  persons  engaged 
in  such  industry  in  the  State,  unless  a  greater  number  is  required  to  produce  articles  or  materials  to 
be  supplied  to  State  or  municipal  institutions;  but  this  limitation  does  not  apply  to  the  manufacture 
of  binding  twine. 

General  Statutes  of  1894,  sec.  3598,  provides  that  not  to  exceed  an  average  of  33  per  cent  of  prisoners 
in  the  State  reformatory  shall,  during  any  year,  be  employed  in  quarrying,  manufacturing,  and  cut- 
ting granite  for  sale. 

MISSISSIPPI. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1894,  chap.  76,  and  Acts  of  1896,  chap.  133,  authorize  the  leasing  of  convicts 
in  county  jails,  either  by  public  auction  to  the  highest  bidder  or  in  a  body  to  a  convict  contractor,  for 
a  term  not  exceeding  four  years.  The  convicts,  in  either  case,  are  to  be  controlled,  directed,  and 
maintained  by  the  lessee.  All  female  convicts  in  county  jails,  except  incorrigibles,  must  be  hired  out 
individually  and  not  to  a  convict  contractor,  and  must  not  be  worked  with  male  convicts  or  upon 
public  works  or  ways. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  sec.  225,  and  Code  of  1892,  sec.  3201,  and  Acts  of  1894,  chap. 
75,  authorize  the  carrying  on  of  farming  operations  with  the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts,  or  manu- 
facturing, under  the  sole  management  and  control  of  State  officials ;  or  the  working  of  such  convicts 
in  the  penitentiary  under  State  control  and  discipline. 

Acts  of  1894,  chap.  76,  sec.  2,  and  Acts  of  18%,  chap.  133,  sec.  2,  authorize  the  employment  of  county 
convicts  in  farming,  under  the  direction  of  county  authorities. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1894,  chap.  75,  sec.  4,  authorizes  the  employment  of  State  convicts  in 
making  articles  and  implements  necessary  for  use  on  the  farms  upon  which  convicts  are  employed  ; 
and  in  making  shoes,  clothing,  and  other  articles  for  the  convicts. 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  sec.  224,  and  Code  of  1892,  sec.  3202,  authorize  the 
employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  on  public  roads  or  works,  or  on  public  levees,  when  such  work- 
ing will  not  interfere  with  their  working  at  farming,  the  work  to  be  performed  under  official  disci- 
pline and  management. 

Acts  of  1894,  chap.  76,  sec.  2,  and  Acts  of  18%,  chap.  133,  sec.  2,  authorize  the  employment,  under 
official  direction  and  management,  of  county  convicts  on  public  roads  or  works ;  but  female  convicts 
must  not  be  so  employed. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Acts  of  1896,  chap.  133,  sec.  6,  provides  that  leased  county  convicts  shall  not  be 
worked  more  than  10  hours  a  day,  or  from  sunup  to  sundown. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  manufacture  of  drainage  tile,  brick,  wagons,  agri- 
cultural implements,  gearing,  shoes,  and  clothing,  farming,  and  employment  upon  public  works  and 
ways  and  levees. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

Constitution,  sees.  223,  224,  and  225,  and  Code  of  1892,  sec.  3201,  prohibit  the  contracting  or  leasing 
of  the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts,  and  of  county  convicts  for  labor  outside  the  counties  of  their 
conviction. 

MISSOURI. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Revised  Statutes  of  1889,  sec.  7238,  authorizes  the  making  of  contracts  for  the 
employment  of  penitentiary  convicts,  for  periods  not  exceeding  10  years,  under  such  terms  and  con- 
ditions as  may  be  deemed  for  the  State's  best  interests,  the  labor  to  be  performed  within  the  prison 
walls.  Such  contracts  are  made  to  be  made  after  advertisement  calling  for  bids  for  the  unemployed 
convict  labor;  but  contracts  already  in  existence  may  be  renewed  without  advertising.  Other  sec- 
tions provide  that  the  discipline  and  maintenance  are  to  be  under  the  direction  of  the  State. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  3437  appears  to  authorize  the  leasing  of  misdemeanor  prisoners  committed, 
for  nonpayment  of  fines,  in  county  jails,  by  providing  that  the  amount  "  received  for  the  services  for 
such  person  so  hired  shall  be  applied  upon  the  judgment  against  him." 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Sec.  7235  provides  for  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  in  manu- 
facturing, and  for  the  sale  of  the  manufactured  products  "in  such  manner  as  may  be  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  State." 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sees.  7235  and  7251  authorize  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  in  man- 
ufacturing commodities  for  State  use. 

Sees.  3438  and  3439,  and  act  approved  February  18, 1891  (Acts  of  1891,  p.  63) ,  authorize  the  employment 
of  county,  city,  town,  and  village  convicts  at  breaking  stone  to  be  used  for  macadamizing  purposes. 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM. — Sec.  7238  authorizes  the  employment  of  convicts  in  the  peniten- 
tiary in  making  improvements  connected  therewith,  or  on  other  State  improvements,  or  in  erecting 
buildings  for  the  State,  or  at  labor  for  the  preservation  and  security  of  property  of  the  State  and  in 
collecting  and  providing  materials  therefor,  or  in  improving  any  public  grounds  belonging  to  the 
State. 

Sees.  3438  and  3439  and  act  approved  February  18,  1891  (Acts  of  1891,  p.  63),  authorize  the  employ- 
ment of  county,  city,  town,  and  village  convicts  on  the  public  roads,  highways,  streets,  alleys,  turn- 
pikes, or  public  works,  or  buildings  of  the  county,  city,  town,  or  village. 


SUMMARY    OF    CONVICT-LABOR    LAWS.  153 

HOURS  OP  LABOR.— Sec.  7274  provides  that  8  hours  per  day  from  October  15  to  April  15,  and  10 
hours  per  day  from  April  15  to  October  15,  shall  constitute  a  day's  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts;  and 
that  no  such  convict  shall  be  required  to  do  work  on  Sunday,  except  necessary  labor  for  the  State. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  farming,  making  brick,  quarrying,  and  making  macadam,  pro- 
curing fuel,  ice,  water,  and  other  supplies  for  the  penitentiary,  and  employment  on  public  works 
and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  make  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made  goods. 

Revised  Statutes  of  1889,  sec.  7252,  forbids  the  hiring  out  of  male  or  female  penitentiary  convicts  as 
domestic  servants  to  any  person  outside  the  prison  walls;  or  permitting  convicts  to  be  used  as  ser- 
vants without  reward,  except  by  the  warden  or  deputy  warden  in  their  own  families. 

MONTANA. 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Penal  Code,  sees.  2960  and  2981,  authorize  the  employment  of  State-prison 
convicts  in  such  manner  as  will  best  subserve  the  interests  of  the  State  and  the  welfare  of  the  prison- 
ers; and  provide  for  their  employment  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries,  with  tools  and 
materials  purchased  by  the  prison  commissioners,  the  manufactured  articles  to  be  sold  and  the 
money  therefor  collected  by  the  commissioners. 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM. — Sec.  2961  authorizes  the  employment  of  any  portion  of  the  pris- 
oners in  the  State  prison  in  the  improvement  of  public  buildings  or  grounds,  or  otherwise  where  they 
may  be  profitably  employed  either  within  or  without  the  walls  or  inclosures  of  the  prison. 

Sec.  3038  authorizes  the  employment  of  convicts  in  county  jails  at  labor  on  the  public  works  and 
ways  of  the  counties. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict  labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries,  and  employment  on  public  works 
and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

Constitution,  art.  18,  sec.  2,  and  Penal  Code,  sec.  2960,  prohibit  letting,  by  contract,  the  labor  of  any 
convict  in  a  State  penitentiary,  prison,  or  reformatory  institution. 

NEBRASKA. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  75,  sec.  16,  provides  that  the  labor  of  such  penitentiary  convicts 
as  can  not  be  utilized  to  advantage  in  the  manufacture  of  articles  for  use  in  the  prison  and  other  State 
institutions  shall  be  "let  out"  by  contract  for  a  term  not  exceeding  3  years;  the  convicts  to 
remain  in  the  custody,  control,  discipline,  and  safe-keeping  of  the  prison  authorities,  and  be  provided 
with  board  and  clothing  by  them. 

Compiled  Statutes  of  1895,  sees.  7260  and  7261,  direct  that  contracts  shall  be  made  for  the  employ 
ment  in  a  profitable  manner  of  convicts  in  county  jails,  under  such  regulations  and  provisions  as  shall 
be  prescribed  by  county  authorities,  who  shall  provide  for  their  safe  custody  while  employed  under 
such  contracts,  and  pay  for  their  board  and  other  expenses  incident  to  their  labor  out  of  the  proceeds 
thereof. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  75,  sec.  16,  provides  that  "as  rapidly  as  it  may  be 
profitably  done  the  State  shall  provide  for  thelaborof  the  (penitentiary)  convicts  on  its  own  account, 
to  the  end  that  the  State  may  eventually  provide  means  for  the  employment  of  all  prisoners  without 
the  intervention  of  contractors;  and  the  warden  shall  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  making  the  State 
prison  as  nearly  self-sustaining  as  possible." 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  16  authorizes  the  use  of  the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts  in  manufactur- 
ing articles  for  use  in  the  prison  and  all  other  State  institutions. 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM. — Compiled  Statutes  of  1895,  sees.  1099, 1281, 1315,  and  7260,  provide 
that  county  convicts  may  be  employed  on  roads  or  other  places,  as  may  be  designated  by  the  county 
commissioners;  and  that  prisoners  sentenced  for  violation  of  city  ordinances,  or  committed  for  nonpay- 
ment of  fines  and  costs  "shall  be  put  to  work  for  the  benefit  of  the  city"  for  the  term  of  imprison- 
ment or  until  the  fines  and  costs  are  worked  out  at  81-50  per  day.  It  is  presumed  that  the  intention 
of  this  provision  is  to  utilize  the  labor  of  prisoners  upon  the  public  works  and  ways  of  cities. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict  labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  employment  at  stone  quarries,  and  upon  public  works  and 
ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods,  or  tending  to  diminish  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

NEVADA. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1893,  chap.  91,  sec.  1,  authorizes  the  renting  or  hiring  out  of  any  or  all 
the  labor  of  the  convicts  in  the  State  prison. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — General  Statutes  of  1885,  sec.  1406,  authorizes  the  hiring  out  of  State-prison  convicts 
for  labor  upon  any  private  work  or  employment. 


154  UNITED    STATES   INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1887  and  of  1893,  chap.  91,  sec.  1,  and  General  Statutes  of  1885, 
sec.  1405,  authorize  the  employment  of  State-prison  convicts  in  manufacturing  or  mechanical  pursuits, 
the  materials  and  appliances  necessary  therefor  to  be  purchased  by  the  State,  and  the  products, 
thereof  to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1887,  chap.  91,  provides  that  State-prison  convicts  engaged  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  boots  and  shoes  shall  make  all  the  boots  and  shoes  required  for  the  use  of  inmates  of  the 
prison,  and  by  wards  of  the  State  in  other  institutions  to  be  paid  for  thereby. 

Acts  of  1887,  chap.  132,  Acts  of  1889,  chap.  60,  and  Acts  of  1891,  chap.  78,  require  the  employment  of 
State  convicts  in  preparing  stone  or  other  materials  for  use  in  the  construction  of  public  buildings. 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM. — General  Statutes  of  1885,  sec.  1406,  provides  that  State-prison  con- 
victs may  be  employed  in  the  improvement  of  public  buildings  and  grounds,  either  within  or  with- 
out the  walls  or  inclosures  of  the  prison,  whenever  in  the  opinion  of  the  prison  authorities  it  will  be 
to  the  advantage  of  the  State  to  so  employ  them. 

Sees.  2148  and  2151,  provide  that  convicts  in  county,  city,  or  town  jails  shaU  be  put  to  labor  upon  the 
construction,  repair,  or  cleaning  of  public  ways  and  works  in  their  respective  counties,  cities,  and 
towns. 

'  HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Sec.  1417  provides  that  every  able-bodied  State-prison  convict  shall  be  required 
to  perform  "as  many  hours  of  faithful  labor  in  each  and  every  day  during  his  term  of  imprisonment 
as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  prison." 

Sec.  2151  provides  that  prisoners  in  county,  city,  or  town  jails  employed  at  labor  upon  public  works 
and  ways  shall  be  kept  at  such  labor,  when  so  required  by  the  proper  authorities,  "at  least  6  hours 
a  day  during  6  days  a  week,  when  the  weather  will  permit." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries,  including  boot  and  shoe  making, 
and  employment  upon  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1887,  chap.  91,  provides  that  boots  and  shots  made  by  State-prison 
convicts  in  excess  of  the  requirements  of  inmates  of  State  institutions  may  be  sold  in  the  open  market 
at  prices  to  be  fixed  by  the  warden  not  less  than  the  cost  of  materials.  Such  sales  shall  only  be  made 
at  wholesale,  in  full  cases  and  unbroken  packages  of  not  less  than  one  dozen  pairs. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

CONTRACT  OR  i  EASE  SYSTEM. — Public  Statutes  of  1891,  chap.  285,  sec.  5,  Paragraph  VI,  authorizes  the 
governor,  with  the  advice  of  the  council,  to  make  contracts  for  the  support  and  employment  of  State- 
prison  convicts. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  AND  STATE-USE  SYSTEMS. — Sec.  5,  Paragraph  V,  idem,  authorizes  the  employment  of 
State-prison  convicts  in  the  manufacture  of  commodities  for  sale  and  for  State  use,  by  providing  for 
"the  sale  of  articles  manufactured  in  the  prison  or  not  necessary  for  the  use  thereof." 

Public  Statutes  of  1891, chap. 282, sec.  14, authorizes  the  employment  and  setting  at  labor  of  "any 
prisoner  confined  in  the  county  jail,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  consistent  with  his  safe-keeping,  if 
the  labor  can  be  prosecuted  without  expense  to  the  county." 

Chap. 283,  sec.  3,  idem,  provides  that  the  county  commissioners  and  selectmen  "  shall  direct  as  to  the 
manner  and  kind  of  labor  to  be  performed  by  the  inmates  of  houses  of  correction  in  their  respective 
counties  and  towns,  and  the  place  of  its  performance,  and  shall  furnish  materials  therefor." 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict  labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — The  only  kind  of  employment  mentioned  in  the  statutes  for  the  utilization  of 
convict  labor  is  manufacturing. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods  or  diminishirg  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — General  Statutes  of  1896,  pages  3167-68,  sees.  15  and  18,  authorize  the  hiring  out 
of  the  labor  of  prisoners  in  the  State  reformatory,  by  contract,  to  the  best  bidders,  after  public  adver- 
tisement. 

PIECE-PRICE  SYSTEM. — Pp.  3161-3162,  sees.  54  and  56,  authorize  the  employment  of  convicts  in  any 
prison,  penitentiary,  jail,  or  public  reformatory  institution,  not  employed  in  the  production  of  goods 
for  use  in  State  institutions,  "on  what  is  commonly  known  as  the  piece-price  plan."  Before  any 
agreement  is  made  under  this  system  advertisements  must  be  published  calling  for  bids, ' '  so  that  there 
shall  be  a  proper  and  just  competition  "  for  the  labor  of  the  convicts. 

P.  3169,  sec.  20,  authorizes  the  employment  of  inmates  of  the  State  reformatory  under  the  "piece- 
price  plan." 

THE  LEASE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1898,  chap.  239,  sees.  9,  10,  and  11,  provide  that  persons  committed  for 
disorderly  conduct  or  as  tramps,  in  any  county,  city,  township,  borough,  or  district,  may  be  bound 
out  to  labor  in  the  service  of  any  suitable  person  or  corporation  for  the  terms  of  their  commitment. 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — General  statutes  of  1896,  pp.  3161-3162,  sees.  54  and  56,  authorize  the  employ- 
ment of  convicts  in  any  prison,  penitentiary,  jail,  or  public  reformatory  institution,  not  engaged  in 
the  production  of  goods  for  use  in  State  institutions,  "  under  what  is  known  as  the  public-account 
system,"  and  authorize  the  selling  of  the  goods  produced  under  such  system. 


SUMMARY    OP    CONVICT-LABOR    LAWS.  155 

Act  of  March  25,  1895,  pp.  3167-3169,  sec.  15,  18,  and  20,  authorizes  the  employment  of  inmates 
of  the  State  reformatory  in  the  production  of  goods  to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  State,  "under 
the  public-account  system." 

P.  1838,  sec.  51.  authorizes  thej>rocurement  of  "  suitable  articles,  materials  and  things"  for  the  "labor, 
work,  and  employment"  of  inmates  of  workhouses. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — P.  3161,  sec.  54,  provides  that  prisoners  in  penal  and  reformatory  institution 
shall  be  employed,  as  far  as  practicable,  in  the  manufacture  of  or  at  work  upon  goods  used  in  State 
institutions. 

Acts  of  1898,  chap.  239,  sec.  10,  provide  that  persons  convicted  as  tramps  or  disorderly  persons  by 
county,  city,  township,  borough,  or  district  authorities  may  be  required  to  work  on  the  county  farm 
in  producing  food,  presumably  for  use  in  public  institutions. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1898,  chap.  237,  sec.  167,  provides  that  convicts  in  county 
jails  or  penitentiaries  may  be  required  to  perform  reasonable  labor,  such  as  cooking,  cleaning, 
gardening,  mechanical,  or  other  service  necessary  to  be  performed,  within  the  bounds  of  the  court- 
house or  county  property. 

Acts  of  1898,  chap.  239,  sec.  10,  provides  that  tramps  or  disorderly  persons  convicted  by  county,  city, 
township,  borough,  or  district  authorities  may  be  required  to  perform  labor  upon  any  county  farm, 
or  upon  the  streets,  roads,  and  highways. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — General  statutes  of  1896,  p.  3152,  art.  vii,  sec.  4,  requires  that  State  prison  convicts 
"  shall  every  day,  except  Sundays,  be  kept,  as  far  as  may  be  consistent  with  their  sex,  age,  health,  and 
ability,  strictly  at  hard  labor  of  some  sort. " 

Acts  of  1898,  chap.  239,  sec.  16,  require  that  inmates  of  workhouses  be  compelled  to  work,  when  able, 
not  less  than  six  hours  per  day. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  mechanical,  and  agricultural  pursuits;  cooking,  cleaning,  gar- 
dening, or  other  service  necessary  to  be  performed  within  the  bounds  of  court-house  or  county  prop- 
erty, and  employment  on  public  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— General  statutes  of  1896,  p.  3156,  sec.  24,  and  p.  3168,  sec.  18,  require  that  goods 
manufactured  in  the  State  reformatory  and  under  contract  in  the  State  prison,  in  whole  or  in  part,  be 
marked,  stamped,  or  tagged  with  the  words  "  Manufactured  in  the  New  Jersey  State  prison,"  or  "Manu- 
factured in  the  New  Jersey  Reformatory."  If  it  be  impracticable  to  stamp  each  article,  or  if  articles 
are  manufactured  which  are  usually  put  up  in  packages,  it  shall  be  sufficient  to  put  the  stamp,  label, 
or  tag  upon  the  packages  in  a  good  and  permanent  manner.  The  marking  of  convict-made  goods 
must  be  "  in  a  legible  and  conspicuous  manner." 

Pp.  3155  and  3162,  sees.  17, 18,  and  59,  and  p.  3168,  sec.  18,  prohibit  the  manufacture  of  felt  or  silk  hats, 
or  any  part  thereof,  or  the  employment  of  more  than  100  persons  at  a  time  in  any  special  branch  of 
industry,  or  in  making  or  manufacturing  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise  of  any  kind  whatsoever,  in 
penal  or  reformatory  institutions. 

P.  3162,  sec.  56,  requires  that  goods  manufactured  in  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  under  the 
public-account  system  shall  only  be  sold  after  public  advertisements  in  the  principal  newspapers, 
"calling  for  public  bids,  so  that  there  shall  be  a  proper  and  just  competition  "  for  their  purchase; 
"and  every  effort  shall  be  made  to  obtain  current  market  prices  for  the  same." 

P.  3161,  sees.  50-53,  prohibits  the  making  of  "any  contract  for  the  labor"  of  prisoners  in  penal  and 
reformatory  institutions;  but  this  inhibition  has  been  greatly  modified  by  subsequent  legislation,  as 
hereinbefore  set  forth. 

NEW  MEXICO. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Compiled  laws  of  1897,  sec.  8518,  provide  that  the  labor  of  penitentiary  con- 
victs may  be  hired  out,  their  labor  to  be  performed  under  the  control  of  the  superintendent  of  the 
penitentiary. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  3528  authorizes  the  hiring  out  of  the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts;  but  con- 
victs so  hired  shall  not  "be  allowed  to  go  out  to  labor  without  being  under  the  custody  of  a  guard  or 
an  overseer  of  the  penitentiary." 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Sees.  3501,  3518,  and  3649  provide  that  male  penitentiary  convicts  shall 
perform  labor  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  proper  authorities;  that 
convicts  not  working  on  public  buildings  and  improvements  shall  be  employed  "as  may  be  most 
advantageous,"  and  that  the  "products  of  convict  labor  shall  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder  for  cash." 

Sec.  841  provides  that  able-bodied  convicts  in  county  jails  shall  be  compelled  to  labor  at  some  useful 
employment  during  the  terms  of  their  conviction. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sees.  3477  and  3548  authorize  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  in  the 
production  of  brick,  lime,  and  stone  for  use  in  the  capitol  building,  and  in  quarrying  and  hauling 
stone  for  use  on  public  improvements. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Sec.  3477  requires  that  all  the  labor  possible  of  penitentiary  con- 
victs be  used  and  utilized  in  the  reconstruction  and  rebuilding  of  the  Territorial  capitol  building. 

Sees.  3518  and  3649  authorize  the  use  of  the  labor  of  convicts  in  the  erection  or  extension  of  the 
prison  buildings,  walls,  workshops,  or  other  improvements. 

Sec.  3548  provides  that  penitentiary  convicts  not  otherwise  occupied  may  be  employed  in  and 
about  any  work,  labor,  or  improvement  on  the  capitol  building  or  grounds,  or  upon  public  thorough- 
fares or  bridges  in  and  near  Santa  Fe,  or  in  quarrying  or  hauling  stone,  or  at  work  for  preventing 
the  banks  of  the  Santa  Fe  River  from  overflow  and  destruction. 


156  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

Sec.  3631  directs  that  any  number  of  penitentiary  convicts  not  exceeding  50  be  surrendered  to 
any  contractor  for  the  construction  of  certain  public  buildings  and  improvements,  to  be  worked 
thereon;  such  convicts  to  be  under  the  care,  custody,  and  control  of,  and  to  be  maintained  by,  the 
contractor,  who  is  not  to  be  required  to  pay  anything  for  their  services. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict  labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  production  of  brick,  lime,  and  stone;  quarrying 
and  hauling  stone,  and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— Compiled  laws  of  1897,  sec.  3649,  required  that  "all  the  products  of  con- 
vict labor  shall  be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder  for  cash,  after  twenty  days'  notice  by  advertisement  in 
three  daily  newspapers,  not  more  than  one  of  which  shall  be  published  in  the  same  county. 

NEW  YORK. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  art.  3,  sec.  29,  provides  that  no  person  in  any  prison,  peni- 
tentiary, jail,  or  reformatory  shall  be  required  or  allowed  to  work,  while  under  sentence  thereto,  at 
any  trade,  industry,  or  occupation  wherein  or  whereby  his  work  or  the  product  or  profit  of  his  work 
shall  be  given  or  sold  to  any  person,  firm,  association,  or  corporation  other  than  State  institutions; 
but  it  was  declared  incidentally  by  the  New  York  court  of  appeals,  on  October  11, 1898,  in  the  case  of 
People  r.  Hawkins  (51  N.  E.  Reporter,  p.  257),  that  this  constitutional  inhibition  does  not  forbid  the 
sale  of  convict-made  goods  to  the  general  public,  although  the  chief  basis  of  the  decision  in  that  case 
rested  on  another  question.  The  statutes  of  1896,  however  (Birdseye's  Statutes  and  Codes  of  18%,  p. 
2362,  sees.  97, 102),  appear  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  goods  except  to  the  State  or  its  subdivisions. 

Birdseye's  Statutes  and  Codes  of  1896,  p.  881,  sees.  20,  21,  and  p.  878,  sec.  1,  provide  that  persons  con- 
victed by  city  or  county  authorities  as  disorderly  persons  shall  be  confined  in  the  county  jail  or  city 
prison  at  hard  labor  and  the  product  of  such  labor  sold,  half  the  proceeds  going  to  the  county  or  city 
and  half  to  the  prisoner  on  his  discharge;  but  these  provisions  appear  to  be  subject  to  the  terms  of 
the  later  statute. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Constitution,  art.  3,  sec.  29,  and  Birdseye's  Statutes  and  Codes  of  18%,  pp 
2363-2364,  sees.  98  et  seq.,  authorize  the  employment  of  convicts  in  State  prisons,  penitentiaries,  jails, 
and  reformatories  in  the  production  of  commodities  for  use  in  the  public  institutions  in  the  State,  to 
be  paid  for  thereby. 

P.  760,  sec.  93,  authorizes  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  county  jails  in  preparing  materials  for 
highway  purposes,  to  be  sold  to  and  used  in  their  respective  counties  or  the  towns,  cities,  and 
villages  therein. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— P.  2363,  sec.  103,  provides  that  the  labor  of  convicts  in  State 
prisons  and  reformatories,  after  the  manufacture  of  needed  supplies,  shall  be  primarily  devoted 
to  the  State  and  the  public  buildings  and  institutions  thereof ;  and  that  the  labor  of  convicts  in  pen- 
itentiaries, after  the  manufacture  of  needed  supplies,  shall  be  primarily  devoted  to  the  respective 
counties  in  which  said  penitentiaries  are  located,  and  the  towns,  cities,  and  villages  therein.  This 
provision  is  construed  as  authorizing  the  employment  of  convicts  on  public  works  and  ways. 

P.  2368,  sec.  118,  authorizes  the  employment  of  State-prison  convicts,  not  to  exceed  300  in  each 
prison,  in  the  improvement  of  public  highways,  outside  of  incorporated  cities  or  villages,  within  a 
radius  of  30  miles  from  the  prison. 

P.  760,  sec.  93,  authorizes  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  county  jails  in  repairing  penal  institutions 
and  in  building  and  repairing  the  highways  in  their  respective  counties. 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  106,  and  acts  of  1898,  chap.  133,  authorize  the  employment  of  convicts  in  the  Sing 
Sing  prison  in  making  improvements  upon  the  prison  building,  and  those  in  the  prison  at  Clinton  in 
improving  a  specified  highway. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR.— Birdseye's  Statutes  and  Codes  of  18%,  p.  2362,  sec.  98,  directs  that  able-bodied 
convicts  in  State,  penal,  and  reformatory  institutions  shall  be  kept  at  hard  labor  not  to  exceed  8  hours 
per  day  every  day  except  Sundays  and  holidays. 

P.  758,  sec.  93,  directs  that  prisoners  in  county  jails  shall  be  constantly  employed  at  hard  labor, 
when  practicable,  every  day  except  Sunday. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  making  of  brooms  and  brushes  from  broom  corn, 
preparing  material  for  highways,  and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1897,  art.  4,  chap.  415,  requires  the  procurement  of  a  special 
license  for  the  sale  of  convict-made  goods;  and  that  no  convict-made  goods  shall  be  sold  or  exposed 
for  sale  to  the  general  public  without  being  branded,  labeled,  or  marked  with  the  words  "  Convict 
made,"  followed  by  the  year  when  and  the  name  of  the  penal  or  reformatory  institution  in  which 
such  commodities  were  produced.  The  brands,  marks,  or  labels  must  be  printed  in  plain  English 
lettering  of  the  style  and  size  known  as  great  primer  roman  condensed  capitals.  Labels  are  to  be 
used  only  when  branding  or  marking  is  impossible,  and  must  be  in  the  form  of  a  paper  tag  and 
attached  to  each  article  by  wire,  if  possible,  and  placed  securely  upon  the  box,  crate,  or  other  covering 
in  which  such  goods  are  packed,  shipped,  or  exposed  for  sale. 

(NOTE.— Acts  of  1894,  chap.  699,  and  acts  of  18%,  chap.  931,  required  the  marking  and  labeling  of 
convict-made  goods  sold  or  offered  for  sale  to  the  general  public.  The  act  of  18%  was  declared 
unconstitutional  by  the  court  of  appeals  of  New  York,  on  October  11,  1898,  in  the  case  of  People  v , 
Hawkins  (51  N.  E.  Reporter,  p.  257).  The  act  of  1894  was  declared  unconstitutional  by  the  supreme 
court  of  New  York  In  the  case  of  People  v.  Hawkins  (85  Hun.,  p.  43). 


SUMMARY   OF    CONVICT-LABOR   LAWS.  157 

Acts  of  1898,  chap.  645,  provide  that  no  printing  or  photo-engraving  shall  be  done  in  any  State 
prison,  penitentiary,  or  reformatory  for  the  State  or  for  any  public  institution  owned  or  controlled 
thereby,  except  such  as  may  be  required  in  State  penal  and  charitable  institutions,  and  the  reports 
of  the  State  commission  of  prisons  and  the  superintendent  of  prisons,  and  printing  required  in  their 
offices. 

Birdseye's  Statutes  and  Codes  of  1896,  p.  2369.  sees.  123,  124,  125,  provide  that  whenever  it  is 
ascertained  by  actual  enumeration  that  the  total  number  of  prisoners  in  the  several  prisons,  peniten- 
tiaries, reformatories,  and  other  penal  institutions,  employed  in  manufacturing  brooms  and  brushes 
of  broom  corn  exceeds  5  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  persons  in  the  State  employed  in  manufac- 
turing such  goods  "the  governor  shall  require  the  managers  of  any  one  or  more  of  such  penal  insti- 
tutions to  discontinue  such  employment,  wholly  or  in  part,  as  he  shall  direct." 

Sec.  118,  p.  2368,  provides  that  "not  exceeding  300  of  the  convicts  confined  in  each  State  prison" 
shall  be  employed  in  the  improvement  of  public  highways. 

Birdseye's  Statutes  and  Codes  of  1896,  p.  2362,  sees.  97  and  98,  Constitution,  art.  3,  sec.  29,  and  pro- 
hibit the  employments  of  convicts  in  State  prisons,  penitentiaries,  jails,  or  reformatories,  under  the 
contract,  piece-price,  or  lease  systems,  and  appear  clearly  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  goods  made  by 
convicts  in  such  institutions,  except  to  the  State  or  any  of  its  institutions  and  subdivisions. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  art.  xi,  sec.  1 ;  acts  of  1897,  chap.  219,  sec.  5 ;  acts  of  1899,  chap.  314, 
sec.  5;  and  code  of  1883,  sees.  3433,  3449,  3450,  authorize  the  "farming out"  of  convicts;  the  making 
of  "contracts  at  remunerative  terms  with  persons  or  corporations  in  order  to  employ  and  support  as 
many  of  the  able-bodied  (penitentiary)  convicts  on  public  works  as  the  interests  of  the  State  and 
the  constitution  will  permit ; "  that  "  in  any  scheme  to  make  the  penitentiary  self-sustaining  prefer- 
ence shall  be  given  to  contracts  for  able-bodied  convicts  in  larger  bodies,  hired  out  to  the  best 
advantage  ; "  and  general  authority  is  given  for  the  hiring  out  of  penitentiary  convicts. 

Code  of  1883,  sec.  3448,  provides  that  inmates  of  county,  city,  or  town  jails  maybe  hired  out  "to 
labor  for  individuals  or  corporations." 

"PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  art.  xi,  sec.  1,  authorizes  the  employment  of  convicts 
punished  by  imprisonment  by  hard  labor  at  "other  labor  for  the  public  benefit "  than  the  "  farming 
out"  of  such  convicts  or  their  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  219,  sec.  5,  provides  for  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  within  the 
penitentiary  or  on  farms  owned  or  leased  by  the  institution,  and  for  the  sale  of  "all  articles  manu- 
factured or  products  produced  by  the  convicts  not  deemed  necessary  for  their  use  and  comfort  for  the 
next  ensuing  year." 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  219,  sec.  6,  authorize  the  production  of  commodities  by  con- 
vict labor,  for  use  in  the  penitentiary,  by  providing  for  the  sale  of  all  manufactured  articles  and 
products  of  the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts  "  not  necessary  for  their  use  and  comfort  for  the  next 
ensuing  year." 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  art.  xi,  sec.  1,  authorizes  the  employment  of  con- 
vict labor  on  public  works  and  highways. 

Acts  of  1895,  chap.  194;  chap.  314,  sec.  5,  and  acts  of  1889,  chap.  361,  sec.  6,  make  provision  for  the  use 
by  counties  of  penitententiary  convicts,  in  working  their  public  roads,  canals,  and  turnpikes,  the  use 
of  female  convicts  in  working  on  public  roads  is  being  prohibited.  The  statutes  of  this  State  con- 
tain many  other  laws  authorizing  similar  employment  of  convicts  in  particular  counties. 

Code  of  1883,  sec.  2508,  as  amended  by  acts  of  1885,  chap.  70,and  acts  of  1887,  chap.  74,  authorize  the 
employment  of  not  more  than  325  penitentiary  convicts  in  reclaiming  State  swamp  lands  and  in  con- 
structing canals,  ditches,  roads,  and  other  necessary  works  of  improvement  through  or  in  the  vicinity 
of  such  lands. 

Acts  of  1889,  chap.  361,  sec.  5,  and  Code  of  1883,  sec.  3448,  authorize  the  employment  of  prisoners  in 
county,  city,  or  town  jails  on  public  roads. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  hours  of  convict  labor. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR.— -Manufacturing;  farming;  reclaiming  State  swamp  land;  employment  in  the  con- 
struction of  railroads,  canals,  and  ditches,  and  upon  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  219,  sec.  5,  provides  that  such  products  of  the  labor  of 
penitentiary  convicts  as  are  sold  shall  be  sold  "  at  the  highest  market  prices,"  as  and  when  the  super- 
intendent may  deem  best;  "  but  any  article  or  product  held  more  than  2  months  for  better  prices 
shall  be  sold  when  the  board  of  directors  shall  direct." 

The  number  of  convicts  that  may  be  hired  or  employed  on  public  ways  and  works,  or  otherwise,  is 
frequently  limited  by  statute. 

NORTH  DAKOTA. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1897,  chap.  108,  and  Revised  Codes  of  1895,  sees.  8571, 8574,  author- 
ize the  carrying  on  of  farm  operations  and  the  manufacture  of  brick  by  convict  labor,  the  proceeds 
of  such  enterprises  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  State. 

Revised  Codes  of  1895,  sec.  8554,  provides  that  State  convicts  may  be  employed  in  cultivating  any 
ground  belonging  to  the  penitentiary. 


158  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

Sec.  8622  provides  that  prisoners  in  common  jails  sentenced  to  hard  labor  shall  be  furnished,  in  the 
discretion  of  the  sheriff,  with  suitable  tools  and  materials  for  their  profitable  employment  for  the 
benefit  of  the  county. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1897,  chap.  108,  and  Revised  Codes  of  18*5,  sec.  8571,  authorize  the  dis- 
posal of  products  of  convict  labor  "  to  the  State  or  any  political  division  thereof,"  or  to  any  public 
institution  of  the  State,  and  the  manufacture  of  brick  for  State  use  by  convict  labor. 

PUBLIOWORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— Revised  Codes  of  1895,  sees.  8554,  8573,  authorize  the  employ- 
ment of  penitentiary  convicts  upon  public  buildings,  and  in  macadamizing  or  otherwise  improving 
the  roads  and  streets  used  as  approaches  to  public  buildings  and  institutions. 

Sec.  8622  authorizes  the  employment  of  prisoners  sentenced  to  hard  labor  in  common  jails,  outside 
the  jail  or  jail  yards,  at  work  for  the  county  or  for  any  municipality  therein,  on  public  streets  or  high- 
ways, or  otherwise. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Revised  Codes  of  1895,  sec.  8546,  requires  that  penitentiary  convicts  shall  be 
"  constantly  employed  "  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  brick  making ;  farming,  and  employment  on  public 
works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  108,  prohibits  the  employment  of  convicts  under  the 
contract,  piece-price,  or  lease  systems,  and  the  disposal  of  products  of  convict  labor  (except  brick  or 
farm  products)  to  any  private  person, firm, association,  or  corporation, by  providing  that  "no  person 
in  any  prison,  penitentiary,  or  other  place  for  the  confinement  of  offenders  in  said  State  shall  be 
required  or  allowed  to  work  while  under  sentence  thereto,  at  any  trade,  industry,  or  occupation 
wherein  or  whereby  his  work  or  the  product  or  the  profit  of  his  work  shall  be  farmed  out,  contracted, 
and  given  or  sold  to  any  person,  firm,  association,  or  corporation,"  the  production  of  brick  and  farm 
products  excepted,  and  the  disposal  of  products  of  convict  labor  to  the  State  or  political  divisions 
thereof,  and  to  the  public  institutions,  being  allowed. 

OHIO. 

Act  of  April  25, 1898  (93  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  349),  provides  that  the  labor  imposed  upon  inmates  of  the 
Ohio  State  reformatory  or  the  industrial  pursuits  prescribed  for  their  employment  shall  be  in  the 
discretion  of  the  board  of  managers. 

PIECE-PRICE  SYSTEK.— Act  of  March  31, 1892  (89  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  192),  authorizes  the  establishment 
of  the  piece-price  system  in  the  State  penitentiary,  contracts  thereunder  to  be  made,  after  due  adver- 
tisement, with  the  best  and  most  satisfactory  bidders;  tne  labor  is  to  be  performed  under  the  direction 
and  control  of  the  prison  officials;  no  contract  for  the  product  of  convicts'  labor  on  the  "piece  or  proc- 
ess plan"  shall  bind  the  State  for  a  period  exceeding  5  years  and  no  arrangement  shall  be  made 
for  a  period  of  more  than  1  year  that  will  produce  less  than  70  cents  per  day  per  capita  for  the 
labor  of  able-bodied  convicts,  except  in  certain  specified  cases. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Revised  Statutes  of  1890,  sec.  6801,  provides  that  prisoners  in  county  jails 
shall  perform  labor  anywhere  within  the  county,  the  avails  of  which  shall  be  paid  into  the  county 
treasury. 

Sees.  2100,  6856-3  provide  that  inmates  of  workhouses  shall  be  kept  at  hard  labor  either  within  the 
institution  or  elsewhere  within  the  limits  of  the  corporation,  and  that  certain  convicts  therein  "shall 
be  employed  at  useful  labor  and  earn  their  own  living,"  and 

Sees.  2107-3,  2107-21  authorize  the  working  of  inmates  of  workhouses  under  the  public-account 
system  by  making  provision  for  the  costs  of  maintaining  such  institutions  "over  and  above  the  pro- 
ceeds arising  from  the  sale  of  the  products  thereof." 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Act  of  April  17, 1896  (92  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  184),  provides  that  all  articles  of  food, 
raiment,  or  use,  produced  by  the  labor  of  inmates  of  any  penal,  reformatory,  or  benevolent  institu- 
tion, that  can  be  used  in  the  support  or  maintenance  of  any  other  such  institution  shall  be  supplied 
by  the  institution  growing,  making,  manufacturing,  or  producing  the  same  to  such  other  institutions, 
of  which  accounts  shall  be  kept  and  bills  rendered. 

Act  of  March  31, 1892  (89  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  192),  requires  the  managers  of  the  State  penitentiary 
to  employ  all  the  prisoners  that  are  necessary  in  making  all  articles  for  the  various  State  institutions, 
as  far  as  practicable,  to  be  paid  for  by  such  institutions. 

Revised  Statutes  of  1890,  sec.  7424,  authorizes  the  employment  of  a  portion  of  the  penitentiary  con- 
victs in  manufacturing  articles  used  in  carrying  on  the  penitentiary. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Laws  of  1891,  p.  386  (vol.  88),  authorizes  the  employment  of 
convicts  in  the  State  reformatory  in  making  improvements  and  additions  to  the  buildings  thereof. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  hours  of  convict  labor  are  not  regulated  by  statute. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries ;  production  of  food,  raiment,  knit 
and  woolen  goods,  and  employment  on  public  works. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Act  of  April  25, 1898  (93  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  349),  provides  that  the  "  contract 
system  shall  not  be  employed"  in  imposing  labor  upon  the  inmates  of  the  Ohio  State  reformatory, 
or  in  the  industrial  pursuits  prescribed  for  their  employment. 

Act  of  March  31,  1892  (89  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  192),  prohibits  the  making  of  contracts  whereby  any 
contractor  shall  have  control  of  the  labor  of  convicts  in  the  penitentiary. 


SUMMARY    OF    CONVICT-LABOR   LAWS.  159 

Act  of  May  19, 1894  (91  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  346),  made  regulations  governing  the  sale  in  Ohio  of  convict- 
made  goods  produced  in  other  States;  but  it  was  declared  unconstitutional  by  the  Ohio  supreme 
court  May  11, 1897,  in  the  case  of  Arnold  v.  Yanders  (47  N.  E.  Reporter,  p.  50). 

Act  of  April  21,  1893  (90  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  224),  prohibits  the  manufacture  of  knit  or  woolen  goods 
in  any  penal,  reformatory,  or  charitable  institution,  except  for  the  use  of  the  inmates  thereof. 

Act  of  April  24,  1893  (90  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  237),  provides  that  after  May  1, 1894,  the  total  number  of 
prisoners  and  inmates  of  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  employed  at  one  time  in  the  manufacture 
of  any  one  kind  of  goods  which  are  manufactured  in  the  State  outside  of  such  institutions  shall 
not  exceed  10  per  cent  of  the  number  of  persons  engaged  in  manufacturing  such  goods  outside 
such  institutions,  except  in  industries  in  which  not  more  than  50  free  laborers  are  employed,  as 
shown  by  the  Federal  Census,  or  State  enumeration,  or  by  any  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor 
statistics. 

Act  of  April  27, 1893  (90  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  319),  requires  that  convict-made  goods  produced  in  penal, 
reformatory,  or  other  institutions  in  which  convict  labor  is  employed  "  in  this  or  any  other  State," 
"imported,  brought,  or  introduced  into  the  State  of  Ohio,"  shall,  before  being  exposed  for  sale,  be 
branded,  labeled,  or  marked  with  the  words  "  convict-made,"  followed  by  the  name  of  the  institu- 
tion where  made,  in  plain  English  lettering,  of  the  style  known  as  great  primer  Roman  capitals; 
such  articles  must  be  branded  or  marked,  if  possible;  if  not  possible,  a  label  must  be  used  in  the 
form  of  a  paper  tag  which  must  be  attached  by  wire  to  each  article  when  its  nature  will  permit,  and 
placed  securely  on  the  box,  crate,  or  covering  in  which  such  goods  may  be  packed,  shipped,  or  exposed 
for  sale;  the  brand,  mark,  or  label  must  be  on  the  outside  of  and  upon  the  most  conspicuous  part  of 
the  finished  article  and  its  box,  crate,  or  covering. 

Act  of  March  31, 1892  (89  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  193),  provides  that  penitentiary  convicts  under  22  years 
of  age  shall  be  employed,  when  possible,  at  hand  work  exclusively,  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  a 
trade. 

Act  of  April  30,  1891  (88  Laws  of  Ohio,  p.  420),  provides  that  prisoners  in  the  State  reformatory  shall 
be  employed  in  such  ways  as  not  to  interfere  with  or  affect  free  labor  in  the  least  possible  degree. 

OKLAHOMA. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Statutes  of  1893,  sec.  5436,  provides  that  convicts  in  jails,  sentsnced  to 
hard  labor,  shall  be  furnished  with  suitable  tools  and  materials  to  work  with,  if  in  the  opinion  of  the 
sheriff  they  can  be  profitably  employed,  and  that  the  county  shall  be  entitled  to  the  earnings  of  such 
convicts. 

PUBLIC-WOEKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— The  same  section  and  Acts  of  1895,  chap.  41,  sec.  50,  authorize 
the  employment  of  jail  convicts  either  for  the  county  or  for  any  municipality  therein,  upon  the  public 
streets  or  highways. 

HOUKS  OF  LABOR.— The  hours  of  convict  labor  are  not  regulated  by  statute. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Mechanical,  and  upon  public  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provisions  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods  or  tending  to  reduce  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

OREGON. 

Hill's  Annotated  Laws,  sec.  3861,  provides  that  penitentiary  convicts  may  be  employed  "in  accord- 
ance with  rules  which  may  be  prescribed  from  time  to  time  by  the  governor." 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Act  of  February  23, 1895  (Acts  of  1895,  p.  40),  authorizes  the  making  of  contracts 
with  any  person,  firm,  or  corporation  for  the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts  at  a  compensation  of  not 
less  than  35  cents  per  day  per  convict,  for  any  period  or  periods  of  time  not  exceeding  10  years,  the 
labor  to  be  performed  within  the  penitentiary  or  the  inclosures  thereof,  under  the  general  charge  and 
custody  of  the  prison  officials. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Hill's  Annotated  Laws,  p.  1817,  sec.  4,  authorizes  the  use  of  materials  produced 
by  the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts  in  the  construction  and  establishment  of  the  State  reform  school. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM.— Act  of  February  23, 1895,  sec.  20  (Acts  of  1895,  p.  54),  authorizes 
the  employment  of  convicts,  as  far  as  practicable,  in  the  improvement  and  construction  of  roads  on 
and  adjoining  State  lands. 

Hill's  Annotated  Laws,  p.  1817,  sec.  4,  authorizes  the  use  of  the  labor  of  penitentiary  convicts  in  the 
construction  of  the  reform  school. 

Act  of  February  17, 1899  (Acts  of  1899,  p.  84),  provides  for  employing  such  convicts  as  can  be  safely 
used  for  that  purpose  on  roads  in  the  vicinity  of  the  State  prison  and  the  adjoining  public  buildings. 

Acts  of  1893,  p.  131,  sec.  32,  provides  that  convicts  failing  to  pay  fines  for  violations  of  municipal 
ordinances  may  be  required  to  labor  one  day  for  every  $2  of  such  fines,  upon  the  streets  or  other  pub- 
lic works  of  the  municipality. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR.— Act  of  February  23, 1895  (Acts  of  1895,  p.  40),  provides  that  penitentiary  convicts 
employed  under  the  contract  system  shall  not  be  "  compelled  to  labor  for  a  longer  time  than  10  hours 
per  day." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR.— Manufacturing  (by  implication),  and  upon  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— The  statutes  contain  no  provisions  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods  or  diminishing  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 


160  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Digest  of  1894,  p.  996,  sec.  16,  appears  to  authorize  the  lease  system  as  to  inmates  of 
houses  of  correction  by  providing  that  they  may  be  detailed  to  do  work  outside  ths  grounds  of  the 
institution,  "for  such  other  person  [than  any  of  the  departments  or  institutions  of  the  city]  as  may  be 
approved  by  the  board  of  managers." 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— P.  1661,  sees.  13, 17,  direct  that  inmates  of  penal  and  reformatory  institu- 
tions be  employed  for  and  in  behalf  of  the  State,  the  institutions,  or  the  counties,  and  prescribe  regu- 
lations governing  the  sale  of  their  products  to  the  general  public. 

P.  1077,  sec.  4,  authorizes  the  furnishing  of  suitable  articles  and  materials  for  the  employment  of 
able-bodied  inmates  of  county  jails,  workhouses,  and  housesof  correction,  at  labor  and  manufacturing, 
the  products  of  their  labor  to  be  disposed  of  as  the  county  commissioners  may  direct. 

P.  1080,  sec.  20,  directs  that  articles  manufactured  by  convict  labor  in  the  Philadelphia  county  prison 
"shall  be  sold." 

PUBLIC-WORKS- AND-W  AYS-SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1895,  act  No.  264,  provides  that  persons  sentenced  to  sim- 
ple imprisonment  in  county  jails  may  be  required  to  labor  "about  the  county  buildings  and  upon 
the  grounds  and  property  of  the  county." 

Digest  of  1894,  p.  1486,  sec.  552,  and  p.  1547,  sec.  35,  authorize  the  working  at  hard  labor  of  persons 
convicted  of  violations  of  city  ordinances,  upon  the  streets  or  elsewhere  for  the  benefit  of  the  city. 

P.  996,  sec.  16,  provides  that  inmates  of  the  house  of  correction  may  be  detailed  to  work  "outside 
the  grounds  of  the  institution  for  any  of  the  departments  or  institutions  of  the  city." 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — The  same  law  provides  that  inmates  of  the  house  of  correction  may  be 
employed  in  manufacturing  "such  articles  as  may  be  needed  for  the  prison,  almshouse,  or  other  pub- 
lic institution  of  the  State  or  city." 

HOURS  OP  LABOR. — The  hours  of  convict  labor  are  not  regulated  by  statute. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  making  of  brushes,  brooms,  hollow  ware,  mats  and 
matting;  quarrying  stone,  farming,  and  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Digest  of  1894,  p.  1661,  sees.  17-20,  require  that  all  products  of  convict  labor, 
except  goods  shipped  to  points  outside  the  State,  must  be  branded  immediately  upon  completion, 
and  before  removal  from  the  place  where  made,  or  before  being  taken  into  and  exposed  for  sale  in 
any  place,  at  wholesale  or  retail,  in  plain  English  lettering,  with  the  words  "  convict-made,"  fol- 
lowed by  the  year  and  the  name  of  the  establishment  in  which  made;  the  brand  is  to  be  placed  upon 
each  article  where  the  nature  of  the  case  will  permit,  otherwise  upon  the  box  or  other  receptacle  or 
covering  in  which  it  is  contained;  such  branding  may  be  done  by  casting,  burning,  pressing,  or  such 
other  process  that  it  may  not  be  defaced,  and  in  all  cases  the  branding  must  be  upon  the  most  con- 
spicuous place  upon  the  article  o*T'  ^"""Vering;  such  brand  must  not  be  removed  except  as  the  goods 
are  sold  at  retail  to  "  customers  for  individual  use ; "  and  the  box,  receptacle,  or  covering  containing 
such  brand  shall  be  open  to  the  inspection  or  view  of  each  customer. 

Acts  of  1897,  No.  141,  prescribes  that  in  any  State  prison,  penitentiary,  or  reformatory  not  more  than 
5  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  inmates  shall  be  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  brooms,  brushes, 
or  hollow  ware,  nor  more  than  10  per  cent  in  the  manufacture  of  any  other  kind  of  goods  that  are 
manufactured  elsewhere  in  the  State,  except  mats  and  matting,  in  the  manufacture  of  which  20  per 
cent  of  the  whole  number  of  such  inmates  may  be  employed. 

Similar  restrictions  are  prescribed  as  to  the  employment  of  inmates  of  county  prisons,  workhouses, 
and  reformatories. 

It  is  also  provided  that  "no  machines  operated  by  steam,  electricity,  hydraulic  force,  compressed 
air,  or  other  power,  except  machines  operated  by  hand  or  foot  power,  shall  be  used  in  any  of  said 
institutions  in  the  manufacture  of  any  goods,  wares,  articles,  or  things  that  are  manufactured  else- 
where in  the  State. 

Digest  of  1894,  sec.  14,  p.  1006,  and  sees.  13, 15,  p.  1661,  abolish  and  prohibit  the  contract  system  in 
all  penal  and  reformatory  institutions. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— General  Laws  of  1896,  chap.  285,  sec.  39,  and  chap.  289,  sec.  14,  authorize  the 
employment  of  prisoners  in  jail  or  in  the  State  prison  for  the  benefit  of  the  State  "in  such  manner, 
under  such  contract,  and  subject  to  such  rules,  regulations,  and  discipline"  as  the  board  of  State 
charities  and  corrections  may  make. 

Chap.  291,  sec.  10,  authorizes  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  to  make  such  contracts  as 
they  may  deem  proper  respecting  the  labor  of  inmates  of  the  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  of 
the  State. 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — The  same  section  authorizes  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections, 
in  their  discretion,  to  sell  the  products  of  the  State  farm  and  of  other  penal  and  reformatory  institu- 
tions under  their  charge. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  hours  of  convict  labor  are  not  regulated  by  statute. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  (by  implication)  and  farming. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods  or  tending  to  reduce  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 


SUMMARY    OF    CONVICT-LABOR   LAWS.  161 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

CONTRACT  OR  PIECE-PRICK  SYSTEM.— Revised  statutes  of  1893,  part  3,  sec.  574,  authorizes  the  author- 
ities of  the  State  penitentiary  "to  make  contracts  for  the  performance  of  specific  work,  such  work  to 
be  done  entirely  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  officers  of  the  penitentiary." 

LEASE  SYSTEM.— Sees.  565-567,  idem,  act  314  of  1893,  and  act  528  of  1894  provide  that  convicts  in  the 
State  penitentiary,  except  those  sentenced  for  certain  heinous  crimes,  may  be  leased  or  hired  out  to 
the  highest  responsible  bidder,  such  convicts  to  be  boarded,  clothed,  and  safely  kept  by  the  lessee. 
As  far  as  practicable  the  convicts  shall  be  hired  to  work  on  farms  in  healthy  localities. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Revised  Statutes  of  1893,  part  5,  sec.  531,  authorizes  the  purchase  of  mates 
rials  necessary  for  employing  the  prisoners  in  the  State  penitentiary,  and  the  sale  of  such  articles  pro- 
duced therein  "as  are  proper  to  be  sold." 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  Art.  XII,  sec.  6,  act 524  of  1898,  act  113  of  18%,  and 
Revised  Statutes  of  1893,  part  5,  sec.  544,  authorize  the  working  of  convicts  upon  the  public  works  and 
ways  of  the  State  and  of  the  counties  and  municipalities  therein. 

Act  7  of  1899  permits  any  county  to  contract  with  another  county  for  hiring  out  or  exchanging  con- 
vict labor  to  be  employed  on  public  works. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Revised  Statutes  of  1893,  part  5,  sec. 566,  provides  that  penitentiary  convicts 
leased  or  hired  out  "shall  not  be  required  to  labor  more  than  10  hours  a  day,  or  on  Sundays  or  holi- 
days." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  (by  implication),  farming,  and  employment  on  public  work- 
and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  sale  of  convict-made  goods  is  not  regulated  by  statute. 

Revised  Statutes  of  1893,  part  5,  sec. 578,  prohibits  the  "hiring  or  leasing  of  convicts  in  phosphate 
mining." 

SOUTH  DAKOTA. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Compiled  Laws  of  1887,  sees.  7714-7720,  authorize  the  contracting  of  the  labor  of 
penitentiary  convicts,  together  with  shop  room,  machinery,  and  power,  after  due  advertisement,  for 
periods  not  exceeding  5  years  at  any  one  time,  subject  to  cancellation  after  6  months'  notice  to 
the  contractor;  the  convicts  are  to  be  worked  under  the  general  supervision  and  government  of  the 
prison  authorities. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1893,  chap.  131,  provides  for  the  purchasing,  erection,  and  main- 
tenance of  the  necessary  machinery  and  appliances  for  the  manufacture,  in  the  State  penitentiary,  of 
binding  twine  from  hemp  or  flax  fiber,  and  for  the  sale  thereof. 

Compiled  Laws  of  1887,  sec.  7705,  authorizes  the  employment  ~r  enitentiary  convicts  in  quarrying 
stone. 

Sec.  7813  provides  that  inmates  of  county  jails  shall  be  provided  with  suitable  tools  and  materials 
to  work  with  within  the  jail  confines  in  the  discretion  of  the  sheriff. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1890,  chap.  11,  authorizes  the  purchase  of  the  necessary  machinery  and 
appliances  to  enable  the  State  convicts  to  work  in  developing  stone  quarries  belonging  to  the  State, 
the  stone  to  be  used  in  erecting  a  wall  around  the  penitentiary  and  in  other  improvements. 

Compiled  Laws  of  1887,  sec.  7705,  authorizes  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  in  "  cultivat- 
ing the  prison  farm  or  in  doing  any  work  necessary  to  be  done  in  the  prosecution  of  the  regular  busi- 
ness of  the  institution." 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM.— Sees.  7813-7815  authorize  the  employment  of  inmates  of  county 
jails  and  of  violators  of  city  ordinances  "in  work  on  public  streets  or  highways  or  otherwise,"  for 
counties  or  municipalities. 

Acts  of  1890,  chap.  11,  provides  that  penitentiary  convicts  may  be  employed  in  erecting  the  prison 
wall  or  in  making  other  improvements  on  the  penitentiary. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR.— Compiled  Laws  of  1887,  sec.  7696,  provides  that  convicts  sentenced  to  hard  labor 
in  the  penitentiary  "  shall  be  constantly  employed"  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR.— Manufacturing,  including  the  manufacture  of  binding  twine,  stone  quarrying, 
farming,  and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— Acts  of  1893,  chap.  131,  requires  that  the  price  of  binding  twine  manu- 
factured in  the  State  penitentiary  "shall  be  fixed  at  the  actual  cost  of  production;  but  no  twine  shall 
be  put  upon  the  market  at  a  greater  price  than  it  can  be  purchased  for  of  other  manufacturers,  and 
no  twine  shall  be  sold  outside  of  the  State  so  long  as  there  is  a  market  for  the  same  within  South 
Dakota."  Fiber  grown  in  the  State  must  be  preferred  in  manufacturing  such  twine. 

TENNESSEE. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1897,  chap.  39,  authorizes  the  making  of  contracts  for  the  labor  of  peni- 
tentiary convicts  not  otherwise  employed,  with  any  persons  desiring  to  carry  on  a  manufacturing  or 
other  business  within  the  penitentiary  walls;  contracts  are  to  be  made  so  as  to  yield  the  greatest 
possible  revenue  to  the  State,  and  the  convicts  employed  are  to  be  at  all  times  under  the  care  and 
supervision  of  the  prison  authorities. 
250 A — VOL  III 11 


102  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  125,  sec.  31,  provides  for  the  employment,  under  contract,  of  "able-bodied, 
shorter-time  convicts,"  at  branch  prisons,  outside  the  penitentiary  walls. 

LEASE  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1895,  extra  session,  chap.  7,  sec.  19,  and  Acts  of  1897,  chap.  125,  sec.  31, 
authorize  the  leasing,  1'or  the  best  interests  of  the  state,  of  such  penitentiary  convicts  as  are  not 
otherwise  employed;  and  the  continuance  of  an  existing  lease  under  which  such  convicts  are  worked 
in  certain  ore  mines. 

Acts  of  1891,  chap.  123,  sec.  19,  provides  that  any  county  convict,  held  for  nonpayment  of  fines  and 
costs,  may,  with  his  consent,  be  "bailed  out,"  and  be  under  the  care,  custody,  and  direction  of  the 
bailee  until  the  amount  due  by  him  shall  have  been  paid  by  the  bailee  in  monthly  installments. 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  125,  sees.  11  and  12,  authorize  the  employment  <>f 
penitentiary  convicts  at  farming,  coal  mining,  and  coke  making,  and  the  sale  of  products  of  their 
labor  while  so  employed. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  30  provides  that  all  coal  and  coke  needed  for  use  by  State  institutions 
shall  be  furnished  by  the  board  of  prison  commissioners;  and  that  such  institutions  shall  be  required 
to  use  only  coal  and  coke  furnished  by  State  mines  and  produced  by  the  labor  of  penitentiary  con- 
victs. 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM.— Sec.  31  authorizes  the  temporary  employment  of  "more  able- 
bodied,  shorter-time  convicts"  in  the  penitentiary,  in  building  public  roads  and  pikes,  under 
contracts  with  county  or  municipal  authorities. 

Acts  of  1891,  chap.  123,  sec.  5,  provides  that  inmates  of  county  workhouses,  or  county  jails  declared 
workhouses,  shall  be  worked,  when  practicable,  on  the  county  roads  in  preference  to  all  other  kinds 
of  labor. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Code  of  1884,  sec.  6366,  provides  that  the  work  of  penitentiary  convicts  "shall  be 
at  an  average  of  10  hours  per  day,  Sundays  excepted,  through  the  entire  year,"  and  that  the  number 
of  hours  to  be  worked  in  the  different  seasons  of  the  year  shall  be  regulated  by  the  prison  authorities. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  coal  mining,  coke  making,  clearing  land,  farming,  and  employ- 
ment on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION.— Acts  of  1897,  chap.  125,  sees.  29,  30,  direct  that  contracts  be  made,  if 
practicable,  for  the  sale  of  the  output  of  the  State  coal  mines  for  a  period  not  to  exceed  C  years"  at 
such  price  per  bushel  or  ton  as  will  give  the  State  of  Tennessee  a  fair  price  for  the  labor  of  its  con- 
victs and  a  just  compensation  for  its  coke  or  coal,"  and  that  coke  or  coal  furnished  to  State  institutions 
shall  be  at  the  same  cost  to  them  as  if  bought  in  the  general  market. 

Sec.  28  prohibits  the  hiring  of  any  female  penitentiary  convict  "to  any  person  on  the  outside  us 
cook,  washerwoman,  or  for  any  other  purpose." 

Sec.  31  provides  that  "  the  more  able-bodied,  shorter-term  convicts  "  in  the  penitentiary,  temporarily 
employed  under  contract  in  building  public  roads  or  pikes,  clearing  ground,  or  in  farming  opera- 
tions, shall  be  so  employed  "  where  competing  the  least  with  free  or  skilled  labor." 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  39,  sees.  1,  4,  8,  direct  that  not  more  than  99  penitentiary  convicts  shall  be 
employed  under  contract  with  any  one  firm,  or  in  any  one  business,  within  the  walls  of  the  peniten- 
tiary; that  no  contract  shall  be  made  extending  beyond  March  1,  1903;  and  that  contracts  shall  bo  so 
made  "that  competition  with  free  labor  shall  be  the  least  possible,  and  that  the  manufacturing 
industries  established  within  the  penitentiary  shall  be  as  diversified  as  practicable  or  possible  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  State,  at  the  same  time  having  due  regard  for  the  interests  of  free  labor." 

TEXAS. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Revised  Statutes  of  1895,  arts.  3654, 3655, 3709,  authorize  the  establishment  of  the 
contract  system  in  the  State  penitentiaries,  the  convicts  employed  thereunder  to  remain  under  the 
control,  discipline,  and  management  of  the  prison  authorities. 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Arts.  3744,  3745,  3746  authorize  the  hiring  out  of  county  convicts  either  by  private 
contract  or  at  public  auction,  or  by  general  contract  for  any  specified  time,  at  some  fixed  rate  per 
day,  week,  or  month,  the  hirer  to  give  bond  for  the  humane  treatment  and  proper  care  and  support 
of  convicts  in  his  employ. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Arts.  3654,  3655,  3701,  3709  authorize  the  establishment  of  manufacturing 
industries  in  State  penitentiaries — particularly  those  of  cotton  goods  and  cotton  and  jute  bagging — 
and  the  carrying  on  of  farming  operations,  and  provide  for  the  sale  of  the  products  of  the  convicts' 
labor;  and  it  is  required  that  "all  convicts  shall  be  placed  within  the  prison  walls  or  on  State  farms, 
and  worked  on  State  account  as  soon  and  speedily  as  possible." 

Arts.  3727,  3730  authorize  the  utilizing  of  the  labor  of  county  convicts  on  farms  or  in  county  work- 
houses. 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  art.  16.  sec.  24,  requires  that  legislative  provision 
be  made  for  utilizing  convict  labor  in  laying  out  and  working  public  roads  and  in  building  bridges. 

Revised  Statutes  of  1895,  arts.  3733,  3744,  provide  that  county  convicts  shall  be  put  to  labo?  upon  the 
public  roads,  bridges,  or  other  public  works  of  the  county  when  their  labor  can  not  be  utilized  in  the 
county  workhouse  or  on  the  county  farm.  The  employment  of  female  convicts  on  public  works  and 
ways  is,  in  effect,  prohibited  by  art.  3736,  which  provides  that  females  "shall  in  no  case  be  required 
to  do  manual  labor,  except  in  the  workhouse  or  when  hired  out." 


SUMMARY    OF    CONVICT-LABOR    LAWS.  163 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Art.  3716  provides  that  penitentiary  convicts  sentenced  to  hard  labor  "shall  be 
kept  at  work  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  may  be  adopted;  but  no  labor  shall  be  required  of 
any  convict  on  Sunday  except  such  as  is  absolutely  necessary,  and  no  greater  amount  of  labor  shall 
be  required  of  any  convict  than  a  due  regard  for  his  physical  health  and  strength  may  render 
proper." 

Art.  3733  requires  that  county  convicts  "shall  be  required  to  labor  not  less  than  8  nor  more  than  10 
hours  each  day,  Sundays  excepted." 

Art.  3746  requires  that  persons  to  whom  county  convicts  are  hired  shall  bind  themselves  not  to  work 
the  convicts  "at  unreasonable  hours,  or  for  a  longer  time  during  any  one  day  than  other  laborers 
doing  the  same  kind  of  labor  are  accustomed  to  work." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  production  of  cotton  goods  and  cotton  and 
jute  bagging,  farming,  and  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provisions  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods  or  for  the  diminishing  of  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

UTAH. 

PUBLIC- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  18%,  chap.  81,  sees.  9,32,  provide  for  the  carrying  on,  in  the  State 
prison,  of  manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries,  and  for  the  sale  of  the  products  of  the  convicts' 
labor  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sees.  29,  32,  33  provide  that  State-prison  convicts  are  to  be  employed  in  manu- 
facturing and  mechanical  industries,  and  on  the  prison  farm,  and  in  producing  "  all  articles  for  the 
various  State  institutions,  as  far  as  practicable." 

PUBLIC  WORKS  AND  WAYS  SYSTEM. — Constitution,  Art.  XVI,  sec.  3,  requires  the  enactment  of  laws 
prohibiting  the  labor  of  convicts  outside  of  prison  grounds,  except  on  public  works  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  State. 

Acts  of  1896,  chap.  81,  sec.  29,  authorizes  the  employment  of  State-prison  convicts  in  the  erection  or 
repair  of  the  buildings  or  walls  of  the  prison. 

Acts  of  1896,  chap.  131,  sec.  30,  authorizes  the  employment  of  prisoners  subject  to  hard  labor,  in 
county  jails,  upon  the  public  grounds,  roads,  streets,  alleys,  highways,  or  public  buildings  for  the 
county. 

Compiled  Laws  of  1889,  sec.  1759,  as  amended  by  Acts  of  18%,  chap.  59,  provide  that  violators  of  city 
ordinances  "shall  be  required  to  work  for  the  corporation  at  such  labor  as  his  strength  will  permit," 
presumably  upon  public  works  and  ways. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Acts  of  1896,  chap.  81,  sec.  37,  requires  that  State-prison  convicts  shall,  as  far  as 
practicable,  be  kept  constantly  employed  at  hard  labor  at  an  average  of  not  less  than  8  hours  a  day. 
Sundays  and  holidays  excepted. 

Compiled  Laws  of  1889,  sec.  1759,  as  amended  by  Acts  of  18%,  chap.  59,  provides  that  violators  of 
city  ordinances  may  be  required  to  work  for  the  corporation  "not  exceeding  10  hours  for  each 
working  day." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  farming,  and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  sale  of  convict-made  goods  is  not  regulated  by  statute. 

Acts  of  18%,  chap.  181,  sec.  32,  requires  that  at  least  once  in  6  months  the  prison  board  shall  meet  to 
determine  what  lines  of  productive  industries  shall  be  pursued  in  the  State  prison,  and  "  shall  select 
diversified  lines  of  industry  with  reference  to  interfering  as  little  as  possible  with  the  same  lines  of 
industry  carried  on  by  citizens  of  this  State." 

Constitution,  Art.  XVI,  sec.  3,  and  Acts  of  18%,  chap.  181,  sec.  32,  prohibit  the  making  of  contracts 
for  the  labor  of  convicts. 

VERMONT. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Statutes  of  1894,  sec.  5188,  provides  that  the  directors  of  the  State  prison  and  the 
house  of  correction  may  contract,  for  not  exceeding  5  years  to  any  one  person,  the  labor  of  all  or  part 
of  the  convicts  in  said  institutions,  on  such  terms  as  they  shall  judge  best  for  the  State;  but  such  con- 
tracts shall  not  interfere  with  the  management  and  discipline  of  the  convicts. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — The  same  section  provides  that  the  directors  of  the  State  prison  and 
house  of  correction  may  "  purchase  material  required  for  employing  the  prisoners  and  sell  articles 
belonging  to  either  institution  proper  to  be  sold." 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  hours  of  convict  labor  are  not  regulated  by  statute. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  (by  implication). 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provisions  regulating  the  Kale  of  convict-made 
goods,  or  tending  to  diminish  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

VIRGINIA. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM. — Code  of  1887,  sec.  4130,  authorizes  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  in 
"executing  work  under  contract  with  individuals  or  companies." 

LEASE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1893-4,  as  amended  by  chap.  795.  sees.  4136-4138,  authorize  the  leasing  oi 
penitentiary  convicts,  not  otherwise  employed,  to  railroad  companies,  to  be  fed,  clothed,  guarded,  and 
sheltered  by  the  lessees. 


164  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — fixli-  <>r'  ]  v7,  sec.  4130,  and  Acts  of  1893-94,  chap.  62,  direct  the  purchase 
or  leasing  of  fanning  lands,  to  be  improved  and  cultivated  by  penitentiary  convicts,  the  products 
thereof,  not  used  in  the  penitentiary,  to  be  sold. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Code  of  1887,  sees.  4110,  4130,  as  amended  by  Acts  of  1893-94,  chap.  795,  and  Acts 
of  1893-94,  chap.  62,  authorize  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  in  farming  operations  for  the 
use  and  benefit  of  the  institution. 

PUBLIC- WORKS-AND- WAYS  SYSTEM.— Code  of  1887,  sees.  4110,  4130-4133  (as  amended  by  Acts  of  1893-94, 
chap.  795),  authorize  the  employment  of  penitentiary  con victs  in  improving,  repairing,  or  working  on 
public  buildings,  grounds,  and  property,  or  the  furnishing  of  such  convicts  to  counties  to  be  worked 
on  county  roads. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Acts  of  1893-94,  chap.  795,  provides,  as  to  convicts  leased  to  railroad  companies, 
that  such  sum  shall  be  paid  for  their  labor  as  may  be  agreed  upon,  "  for  each  day's  work  of  10  hourx 
actually  performed." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  (by  implication),  farming,  and  employment  on  railroads  and  on 
public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provisions  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-maofe 
goods,  or  tending  to  reduce  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

WASHINGTON. 

PUB  Lie- ACCOUNT  SYSTEM.— General  Statutes  of  1891,  sees.  1158,  1170;  Acts  of  1893,  chap.  86,  and  Acts  of 
1895,  chap.  132,  authorize  the  manufacture,  by  penitentiary  convicts,  of"  such  articles  as  are  sanctioned 
by  law,  including  jute  and  other  fabrics  and  brick,  and  the  sale  of  such  products  of  the  convicts' 
labor  as  are  sanctioned  by  law  and  not  needed  by  the  State. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — General  Statutes  of  1891,  sec.  1158,  authorizes  the  employment  of  penitentiary 
convicts  in  "  the  manufacture  of  any  article  or  articles  for  the  State." 

PDBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Sec.  1158  authorizes  the  employment  of  penitentiary  convicts  "in 
the  performance  of  work  for  the  State,"  which,  it  is  presumed,  is  intended  to  authorize  their  employ- 
ment on  public  works  and  ways,  as  their  employment  in  manufacturing  articles  for  State  use.  or  for 
sale,  is  expressly  provided  for  in  the  same  section. 

Sees.  290,  1192, 1193,  direct  that  convicts  in  city  and  county  jails  be  employed  at  labor  on  the  public 
roads,  streets,  grounds,  and  buildings  of  the  city  or  county;  it  being  provided  that  county  convicts 
shall  not  be  put  to  labor  at  a  greater  distance  than  5  miles  from  the  jail. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Acts  of  1897,  chap.  74,  provides  that  there  shall  be  required  of  every  able-bodied 
convict  in  the  penitentiary  "  as  many  hours  of  faithful  labor  in  each  and  every  day  during  his  term 
of  imprisonment  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  penitentiary." 

General  Statutes  of  1891,  sees.  1192, 1193,  provide  that  inmates  of  county  and  city  jails  may  be  com- 
pelled to  perform  8  hours  labor  each  day  of  their  terms  of  imprisonment,  except  Sundays. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  manufacture  of  jute  and  other  fabrics,  and  brick, 
and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — General  Statutes  of  1891,  sec.  1158;  Acts  of  1893,  chap.  86,  and  Acts  of  1895, 
chap.  132,  limit  the  production  of  articles  for  sale  to  jute  and  other  fabrics  and  brick.  It  is  required 
that  these  commodities  shall  not ''be  sold  for  less  than  the  actual  cost  of  production,"  the  method 
for  ascertaining  which  is  prescribed:  and  that  they  shall  be  sold  only  to  actual  consumers  who  are 
residents  of  the  State  of  Washington,  for  cash  on  delivery,  in  the  order,  as  near  as  may  be,  of  the  mak- 
ing of  written  applications  therefor. 

Constitution,  art.  2,  sec.  29,  prohibits  the  hiring  out  of  the  labor  of  convicts  by  contract  to  any  person, 
firm,  or  corporation. 

WEST  VIRGINIA. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1893,  chap.  46,  sees.  28,  et  seq.,  authorize  the  making  of  contracts  for  the 
labor  of  penitentiary  convicts,  together  with  the  necessary  steam  power  for  operating  machinery 
which  the  contractors  are  required  to  supply;  the  contracts  are  to  be  made  with  the  highest  and  best 
bidders,  after  due  advertisement,  for  periods  not  exceeding  5  years,  at  a  specified  price  per  day  per 
convict,  and  for  the  manufacture  of  the  particular  articles  specified  by  the  bidders.  Convicts  not 
hired  under  general  contract  may  be  temporarily  hired  until  "their  labor  is  required  on  any 
contract." 

PIECE-PRICE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  44  provides  that,  if  deemed  advisable,  penitentiary  convicts  not  employed 
under  the  contract  system  "may  be  employed  or  let  to  contract  on  the  piece-price  system." 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Sees.  8,  44,  provide  that  penitentiary  convicts,  not  employed  under  con- 
tract, may  be  employed  in  manufacturing,  the  warden  to  sell  and  dispose  of  the  goods  manufacturea 
for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Sec.  44  provides  that  a  portion  of  the  penitentiary  convicts  may  be  employed 
in  the  repair  or  manufacture  of  articles  used  by  the  State  in  carrying  on  the  penitentiary  or  other 
State  institutions. 

PUBLIC- WORKS-AND- WAYS  SYSTEM. — Sees.  43,  50,  provide  that  penitentiary  convicts,  not  employed 
under  contract,  may  be  employed  "in  the  performance  of  work  for  the  State'  (presumably  on  public 
works  and  ways);  or,  able-bodied  male  convicts  may  be  furnished  to  any  county  of  the  State,  to  be 
worked  on  public  roads,  free  of  hire,  under  specified  conditions. 


SUMMARY    OF    CONVICT-LABOR    LAWS.  165 

HOURS  OF  LABOR.— Sec.  41  provides  that  convicts  employed  under  the  contract  system  shall  labor 
"not  to  exceed  9  hours  a  day  during  the  year,  Sundays  and  national  holidays  excepted." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  provisions  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods,  or  tending  to  reduce  competition  between  convict  and  free  labor. 

WISCONSIN. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Annotated  Statutes  at  1889,  sees.  4938-4943,  authorize  the  making  of  contracts 
for  the  labor  of  State-prison  convicts,  together  with  such  shop  room,  machinery  and  power  as  may  be 
necessary  for  their  proper  employment:  contracts  must  not  be  made  for  periods  exceeding  5  years  at 
any  one  time,  and  the  convicts  are  to  remain  under  the  supervision  of  the  prison  authorities. 
Before  making  such  contracts,  sealed  proposals  therefor  are  to  be  invited  by  public  advertisement. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Sec.  567d  provides  for  the  establishment  of  "the  business  of  manu- 
facturing" in  the  State  prison,  and  the  sale  or  disposition  of  the  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise 
produced  "  to  the  best  interest  of  the  State." 

Sees.  4720,  4727,  authorize  the  employment  of  prisoners  in  the  county  jails  at  such  labor  as  shall  be 
appropriate  to  their  sex  and  physical  condition,  which  may  be  required  to  be  performed  at  any  suit- 
able place  within  the  county,  under  the  direction  of  county  authorities,  the  "avails  of  their  labor" 
to  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury. 

Acts  of  1895,  chap.  290,  provides  for  the  employment  of  inmates  of  county  workhouses  at  hard 
manual  labor,  and  the  sale  of  the  products  of  such  labor  for  the  benefit  of  the  county. 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  346,  sec.  8,  provides  that  prisoners  at  the  State  reformatory  may  be  employed  at 
agricultural  or  mechanical  labor,  as  a  means  for  their  support. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM.— Annotated  Statutes  of  1889,  sec.  COS,  provides  that  all  public  institutions  main- 
tained in  whole  or  in  part  by  the  State  shall  obtain  all  goods  necessarily  required  by  them  from 
the  State  prison  or  other  institution  manufacturing  the  same;  and  the  officers  of  said  prison  or  other 
institution  shall  cause  to  be  made  and  delivered  all  such  articles  or  goods,  so  required,  as  can  be 
made  or  furnished  by  them. 

Sec.  4927  provides  that  State-prison  convicts  may  be  employed  outside  the  prison  walls  in  cultivat- 
ing the  prison  farm,  or  in  quarrying  or  getting  stone  therefrom,  or  in  doing  any  work  necessary  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  regular  business  of  the  institution. 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1895,  chap.  250,  provides  that  persons  convicted  in  any 
court  in  the  State,  including  convictions  for  violations  of  city  or  village  ordinances,  for  vagrancy,  and 
other  specified  offenses,  may  be  required  to  work  upon  highways  or  other  public  improvements,  in 
case  other  work  is  not  provided  for  them. 

Annotated  Statutes  of  1889,  sec.  1547d-10,  provides  that  tramps  sentenced  to  hard  labor  in  county 
jails  may  be  required  to  work  "upon  highways  or  other  public  improvements,"  in  case  other  work  is 
not  provided  for  them  by  county  authorities. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — Sec.  4918  requires  that  State-prison  convicts  sentenced  to  hard  labor  shall  be 
"constantly  employed." 

Acts  of  1895,  chap.  290,  and  Acts  of  1897,  chap.  318,  provide  that  inmates  of  conn  t  y  jails  and  workhouses 
shall  be  kept  at  labor  not  to  exceed  10  hours  per  day,  Sundays  excepted. 

Acts  of  1891,  chap.  206,  provides  that  no  person  confined  in  any  penal  institution  "shall  be  com- 
pelled to  perform  any  factory  work  on  any  legal  holiday." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing,  including  the  manufacture  of  chairs,  general  furniture,  boots, 
shoes,  buggies,  carriages,  wagons,  sleighs,  and  cutters:  farming:  stone  quarrying;  and  employment 
upon  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Annotated  Statutes  of  1889,  sec.  567d-3,  requires  that,  in  selling  commod- 
ities produced  by  the  labor  of  State-prison  convicts,  they  shall  be  disposed  of  "  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  State  and  at  the  best  prices  obtainable." 

Acts  of  1897,  chap.  155,  requires  that  all  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise  made  by  convict  labor  in  any 
institution  outside  of  Wisconsin  and  imported  into  the  State  shall,  before  being  exposed  for  sale,  be 
branded, labeled. or  marked  with  the  words  " convict  made, "etc.;  the  details  of  the  law  being  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  those  of  the  laws  of  other  States  relating  to  the  marking  of  convict-made  goods. 

WYOMING. 

CONTRACT  SYSTEM.— Acts  of  1890-91,  chap.  37,  sec.  5,  authorizes  the  providing  for  the  care,  maintenance, 
and  employment  of  inmates  of  penal  or  reformatory  institutions  by  contract. 

PUBLIC-ACCOUNT  SYSTEM. — Revised  Statutes  of  1897,  sec.  3375,  authorizes  the  employment  by  the 
Territory  (State)  of  inmates  of  penal  and  reformatory  institutions  "upon  its  own  account." 

Acts  of  1890-91,  chap.  37,  sec.  5,  authorizes  the  employment  of  inmates  of  penal  or  reformatory 
institutions  by  "direct  expenditure." 

PUBLIC-WORKS-AND-WAYS  SYSTEM. — The  same  law  provides  that  inmates  of  penal  and  reformatory 
institutions  may  be  employed  to  complete  or  repair  the  place  or  the  surroundings  of  the  plaoe  where 
thev  are  confined. 


166  UNITED    STATES    INDUSTRIAL    COMMISSION. 

Revised  Statutes  of  1887,  sees.  3371,  3374,  provide  that  prisoners  in  county  jails  may  be  compelled  to 
work  in  any  way  that  the  county  commissioners  may  direct  for  the  benefit  of  the  county,  and  that 
convicts  in  the  jail  or  prison  of  any  county,  city,  town,  village,  or  municipality  may  be  employed  or 
put  to  work  upon  any  public  work  of  improvement,  or  upon  highways,  streets,  alleys,  parks,  or 
public  places. 

HOURS  OP  LABOR. — Revised  Statutes  of  1887,  sec.  3372,  provides  that  prisoners  in  county  jails  shall  be 
required  to  labor  "during  the  working  hours  of  every  week  day." 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing  (by  implication),  and  employment  on  public  works  and  ways. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — The  statutes  contain  no  proVision  regulating  the  sale  of  convict-made 
goods. 

Acts  of  J890-91,  chap.  37,  sec.  5,  prohibits  the  working  of  convicts  in  any  coal  mine,  or  at  any  occupa- 
tion in  which  the  products  of  their  labor  may  be  in  competition  with  that  of  any  citizen  of  the  State. 

Revised  Statutes  of  1887,  sec.  3375,  provides  that  the  employment  of  inmates  of  penal  and  reforma- 
tory institutions  shall  be  so  conducted  as  to  offer  no  competition  to  free  labor,  and  that  such  employ- 
ment on  Territorial  (State)  account  shall  not  be  enforced  or  required  any  further  than  shall  be 
necessary  for  the  physical  and  moral  well-being  of  the  convictf. 

THE  UNITED  STATES. 

STATE-USE  SYSTEM. — Acts  of  1894-95,  chap.  189  (28  U.  S.  S.,  p.  957),  provides  that  convicts  in  the 
United  States  penitentiary  at  Fort  Leaven  worth,  Kans.,  shall  be  employed  exclusively  in  the  manu- 
facture and  production  of  articles  and  supplies  for  the  penitentiary,  and  for  the  Government;  the 
convicts  are  not  to  be  worked  outside  of  the  Fort  Leavenworth  Military  Reservation. 

Acts  of  1890-91,  chap.  529  (26  U.  S.  S.,  p.  839),  authorizes  the  construction  of  three  United  States 
prisons,  and  provides  that  convicts  therein  shall  be  employed  exclusively  in  tht  manufacture  of 
supplies  for  the  Government,  within  the  prison  inclosurcs. 

HOURS  OF  LABOR. — The  hours  of  convict  labor  are  not  regulated  by  statute. 

KINDS  OF  LABOR. — Manufacturing. 

SALE  AND  COMPETITION. — Acts  of  1897-98,  chap.  11,  sec.  31  (30U.  S.  S.,  p.  211 ),  prohibits  the  importation 
into  the  United  States  of  any  goods,  wares,  or  merchandise  manufactured  wholly  or  in  part  by  con- 
vict labor  in  any  foreign  country. 

Acts  of  1890-91,  chap.  529  (26  U.  S.  S.,  p.  839),  requires  that  convicts  in  the  United  States  prisons  to 
be  erected  under  said  act  are  to  be  employed  in  manufacturing  such  goods  for  the  Government  "  as 
can  be  manufactured  without  the  use  of  machinery." 

Acts  of  1886-87,  chap.  213  (24  U.  S.  S.,  p.  411),  forbids  the  hiring  or  contracting  out  of  the  labor  of  the 
United  States  convicts  confined  in  any  State  prison,  jail,  penitentiary,  house  of  correction,  or  other 
place  of  incarceration. 

o 


